Sacrifices
by bailee20
Summary: Before Patch, Nora has barley even looked at a boy, but after a break up with Patch a mysterious transfer student is suddenly after Nora's attention, and after getting to know him, Nora finds that out the truth about herself and the sacrifices she has to carry out. But the big question is, can Patch win her back and protect her from the dangers?
1. Break ups

I stumbled out of the door to Bo's Arcade, the images of what I had just witnessed searing themselves into my brain, seeing Marcie Millar drape herself over Patch, and seeing her whisper things into his ear that I know I would prefer to stay unknown, and worst of all seeing him respond with the corners of his mouth tug into an easy smile.  
I shook my head trying to gather my thoughts, as I walked over to the Neon in the pouring rain I dimly heard someone calling my name, quickening my pace I wished that I had parked the car closer to the exit, in fact I wished I didn't come here at all.

"Nora!" A hand grabbed my wrist, sending forbidden tingles up my spine, yet my stomach dropped with dread.  
"What do you want Patch?" I turned around trying to keep my voice even, though I very well knew that I was doing a pathetic job at it.  
"It's not what it looks like and you know it."  
"Do I?" I jerked my wrist free, "Because from where I was standing it looked really straight forward to me, but hey, if I'm reading way too much into you using her like a sleeping bag, then now would be the time to tell me if there's really nothing going on."  
Patch shook his head in disbelief. "Don't make this out to be something it's not Nora, there is nothing going on between me and Marcie"  
A cold laugh escaped my lips, "You two come in the same sentences now?"  
Irritation crossed his features "It's complicated."  
"I thought I might hear that answer" No my mind screamed in denial, whatever numbness I had, was starting to get replaced by pain and anger that was so intense I couldn't tell the difference between the two anymore.  
"Then why did you ask it?"  
"Because I wanted to see your eyes when you said it." Taking a deep breath and forcing myself the best smile I had inside myself, I forced out the next words which I knew had to come out. "This can't go on anymore, I think it would be easier if we just...Take a break. " There I said it.  
But as soon as I did I regretted it, any remaining heat that I might have had, left my body leaving me cold and numb.

Knowing I was only going to hurt myself further if I stuck around, I turned around and made my way across the parking lot, every step I took away from Patch stretched the distance between us, and in between those steps all I could think of was the comfort of his strong arms that never failed to soothe me, or the firm line of his mouth, which would melt in with my own, or those black eyes that would soften every time they caught my with their gaze.  
I suppressed a sob that was about to rip through me. No I told myself, I am not going to let him see me cry, after his performance with Marcie, I refused to let him see that side of me again.

My hand was shaking badly as I fumbled with opening the door to my car, I was about to get in when I heard Patch call my name.  
"Is this what you really want?" Looking up I managed to catch a flash of pain cross his face, but I could have imagined it, because even from a distance all I could feel the coldness of his eyes piecing me.  
Don't cry, I told myself sternly, I managed a stiff nod, because I knew if I let out one more word I would completely break down.  
Looking up at Patch I saw his expression harden, my heart lept into my throat and seemed to have permanently lodge itself there, Patch now seemed to sense that nothing more was going to come out of the conversation, turning around he slowly made his way back to Bo's Arcade.  
I dimly remembered that I was still standing in the rain as I watched his retreating figure, slamming the door to the Neon and drove out as fast as the legal speed limit would allow, I didn't get very far before I had to pull over because the tears blurred my vision.

After what seemed an hour I had finally began to put myself together. Patch and I were over, he traded me for Marcie. This fact brought on a new wave of numbness, since I had already cried myself out, I couldn't feel the sadness anymore, all that was left was a gaping hole where all the feelings for Patch used to be, taking a long sigh I stepped on the gas and slowly drove my way home.

Opening the door the farmhouse I glanced down at my at my watch, judging from the fact that it was well past ten-thirty I knew I would be in trouble for missing curfew when mom woke up.  
I stiffly made my way upstairs, taking a shower wouldn't be a bad idea, but I didn't want to wake my mother up and to face the consequences in my current state, flicking the light switch on to my dresser I peel my wet clothes of, I considered calling Vee, but quickly changed my mind because I knew she was already asleep and I didn't want to wake her.

Changing into my pink pajamas, I padded down to the bathroom to brush my teeth, the peppermint toothpaste leaving a mild burn in my mouth.  
Rinsing my mouth out with cold water felt refreshing so I repeated the process a few times, sighing I glanced at myself in the small bathroom mirror. My reflection started dully back at me, my eyes were all bloodshot and my nose was red and swollen from crying.  
Annoyed at myself for allowing it to get to the point where my face will look like it had been through an encounter with Poison Ivy tomorrow, I rubbed some cream on in hopes to deflate my puffy eyes.  
After remembering that I still have school tomorrow I contemplated pretending to have the flu tomorrow and staying home, I knew it wouldn't be to hard to convince mom if I set my mind to it.  
Any other day and I think I would have done it, but remembering I had to hand in my biology assignment and go to an eZine meeting meant that I was short on options.  
Overtaken with exhaustion I padded back to my bedroom before collapsing in my bed, hoping that this was all just a bad dream and that when I woke up, me and Patch would still be together.


	2. Familiar Dreams

Running up to the porch of a two story house I am about to unlock the door when I noticed the door is slightly ajar, the doorknob showing clear signs of forced entry as it was nearly gorged from its place.  
Anxiety and fear pour into my body and i run upstairs and rip the door open, my eyes wildly taking in the scene before me, the dresser by the window is overturned, the pillows are ripped, the carpet is covered from the stains of the perfume bottles that lie smashed on the floor. I'm scared and I don't know why, and for some reason I dread what's going to come next, I know I have been here before but I can't put my finger on it, but the harder I think, the harder it gets to remember anything, and my head is starting to throb, frustrated I make my way out of the room.  
As I pass i catch myself in the reflection of the jagged shards of what used to be a mirror.  
I see myself a lot younger, there is still that youthful fullness in my lips and my hair swirls around my shoulders in soft auburn wisps, my jeans and converse sneakers are caked with mud and my hands are scraped but I don't feel the sting.

That's when I hear it.  
A shrill, high pitched scream breaks the eerie silence that had been hanging over the house, its filled fear and its screaming my name.  
I break into a run and hurl downstairs as fast as my feet can carry me, rounding the corner of the dining room I see a little girl that's younger than me, her hair the same colour as mine, she seems familiar, just as the whole house does, I try to remember her but my mind goes blank.

My heart stops when I see that she is thrashing against the grip of a solid man that is about to pick her up, I know she has no chance against him, and I know something bad will happen if I don't help her.  
They haven't seen me yet so I make my way over to the knife stand on the bench, pausing to edge around a broken vase that lies shattered on the floor, my muscles are tense and I can hear my own heartbeat pounding in my chest as if its about to leap out.  
I feel like I'm in a trance as I ease the knife out of its resting place and wait until the little auburn haired girl will break out of his grip, I don't know how I know this, but I do, I watch the seconds tick by on the grandfather clock, time slows down and I start counting back from three.

Two. She claws at his neck and hits him at the base of his throat.

One. I can hear her light feet against the mahogany floor boards as she flees across the room trying to gain some distance before he makes his advance.

As soon as the last second crawls by, everything speeds up like someone hit the fast forward button. My wrist flicks forward just as the intruder has recovered himself and takes his first step forward. The knife rotates itself four times before hitting the man in the shoulder, he whirls around to face me and I yell at the girl to get out, my only thought is for her to get out of the house safely, then somehow everything would be worth it.  
I have a sudden urge to see her face, I know this could be my last time, she is about to turn around when the man blocks my view, but I feel relief when the door slams shut and I know the little girl is out of harm's way.

My hands are shaking, so I try taking deep breaths, I know the knife cut the man deep, I can hear him nearing, but the injury is keeping him back, the idea of more time calms me.  
Taking deep breaths I centre myself I remind myself I need to move, I fly upstairs and slam the door shut, I know even with his injury it won't be long until he gets here.  
But somehow I am calm, I don't know why but I am glad I bought myself sometime, taking a quick survey of the room I consider jumping out the window, but my body won't move.

I feel a strange sensation beginning to vibrate within my chest like a power that is trying to break free, but I know I can't give in to the sensation. Not yet.  
Wait, I tell myself.  
Every second that goes by I feel it building, my body is quivering from the effort it is taking to keep myself contained, everything inside my body is begging for me to let go, but I hold on.

The door opens and there he is. I can feel his stare boring into me, as he takes his first stride into my room, oblivious to what's about to come  
I know it's finally time to let go, I exhale and let the energy leave my body, a pulse of power comes out of me in a large wave, the whole room lights up by the rings of electricity that burst out, and I am almost blinded by the light, it hits the man and his body spasms like he had been electrocuted before crumpling at my feet.

Dizzy with exhaustion, my knees buckle, and then I black out, but not before hearing the sound of approaching footsteps.


	3. Expinations

My eyes fly open and I am covered in cold sweat, I throw my covers over and unsteadily walk across the room with the dream still fresh in my mind.  
The room is unusually cold even though it's autumn and I notice I am shivering, my skin is crawling with goose bumps.  
I brush my fingers through my hair to sooth myself, I don't know why I am so worked up about this dream, but everything in it seemed so familiar.  
For some reason the I still have feeling of disappointment in my chest that wishes that the mysterious little girl turned around so I could see her face, even if it was just once.

Giving myself a pinch I know I am awake, while reluctantly deciding I may as well get ready for school I glance down at my watch to see how much extra time I have.  
And that's when I see it.

The splattered raindrop birthmark on my wrist is glowing, my heart stops. This is defiantly not normal, nostalgic dreams and glowing birthmarks have never been a huge problem for me, paranoia maybe, but this is just where my tolerance ends.  
Running down the stairs, taking two at a time I tell myself I'm hallucinating, at the same time I rummage through the first aid kit and finally find what I am looking for.

Wrapping the band around my wrist several times I glance down at it to make sure the glow isn't visible anymore.  
Satisfied I put the kettle on, the sound of bare feet treading against the staircase tells me mom's awake.

Taking a long sigh I know its time to face the music.  
"Morning, sweetheart." Mom nods to me cheerily, a false smile playing at he corners of her lips.  
Oh boy. I know I'm in trouble.  
"Morning Mum," I say as I drain my teabag. "Do want some tea?"  
"No thanks dear" she replies as she watches my carefully, I see her eyes glance at the clock, "you're up awfully early for someone that missed curfew last night, by two hours might I add."  
I sigh warily. "Mom I told you I was at Vee's...We finished up our latest article for eZine later than I would have thought, and then I lost track of time watching Gossip Girl reruns."  
"Vee's?" Mum repeated raising a brow.  
"Where else would I be?" I challenged.  
"Funny that you should say that, because Mrs Sky seemed very confused when I rang up to check on you, in fact she happened to mention that you weren't there all afternoon."  
I was busted. I knew it, mom knew it, and even the ticking clock which filled up the silence of the room knew it.

After a couple of beats I decided that evacuation of the area was the safest thing do to, so shrugging my shoulders I quickly headed upstairs to change into skinny jeans, and my favorite baby blue blouse.  
Walking into the bathroom I set about briskly brushing my unruly hair and somehow wrestling it into a decent ponytail before mom got her wits together and started to share her opinion.

I had just finished adding the finishing touches to my concealar, because as I predicted, my skin didn't take too kindly to last night's emotional breakdown, giving myself a once over in the mirror, I was satisfied with my efforts, although despite the fact that my skin was hibernating under a generous coat of foundation, I knew that no cosmetics in the world could hide my swollen eyes.  
When I turn around I am startled to see my mom leaning against the door frame, her eyes are watching my every move.  
"Mom, we can talk about this later, I'm late for school."  
My mom doesn't move, in fact I am pretty sure she didn't even hear me, I follow her stare and gaze down at my bandaged wrist.  
Oh. Suddenly I find myself contemplating weather I should just tell her the truth about my break up with Patch in hope that it will take me away from the horrifying topic of suicide.

In fact judging from my mom's reaction, I wouldn't be to surprised to come home and find her sitting beside a parental guidance advisor and a stack full of brochures on how to fight suicide on my bedroom dresser.  
I knew I couldn't exactly tell her the truth, saying that my birthmark now looked like stick on glower, because I was fairly certain that would probably score me a one way trip to the hospital, and a new mental illness added to my tab, also my iron pills would probably be traded up for some sort of stronger medication that would leave me hanging out behind the toilet blocks where all other druggies make their territory.  
In fact I'm pretty sure she would take demeture worse than suicide as most suicidal cases are curable if the right kind of help is provided.

Clearing my throat I opted for an embarrassed laugh, shaking mom out of her frozen stupor at my bathroom door way.  
"Well okay, don't miss curfew, lesson learned," I deliberately raised my bandaged wrist absentmindedly, "I am kind of surprised you didn't hear my grand exit out of the kitchen last night, I'm pretty sure that bench corner taught me a thing or two about sneaking around in the dark," I smiled sheepishly before continuing, "I landed myself a pretty good hit that resulted in a colorful bruise."  
"So you didn't…" I could tell she was doing her best to keep the suspicion of her voice out, although I couldn't say I blamed her for being overly cautious when it came to observing her daughters tenancies for self harm, especially since I was the one that had hurled myself off the gymnasium roof last season.  
Of course I couldn't exactly tell her it was either getting shot in the face by one of my ancestors who happened to be a Nephil out for revenge, or the jump from the roof which could have killed me if Patch accepted my sacrifice.

Patch. Even the thought of his name bought tingles to my spine; I anticipated and dreaded seeing him at school today, after our break up yesterday I still had no idea how to behave around him.

"Nora?" Mums inquiring tone told me that she was still waiting for an answer while I was daydreaming about Patch, sighing I knew this subject was going to turn up someday, but with everything that has been happening I haven't had time to prepare a speech.  
"No mom, I didn't jump off the roof, the details are a bit hazy with what happened that night, but please remember with a half crazed, homicidal class mate standing in front of you with a loaded gun, you don't have a lot of options."

At that moment I heard a car horn beeping impatiently outside the door.  
Grinning, I had to admit Vee couldn't have picked a better moment, "Mom, I have to go now, Vee has never had the greatest amount of patience," kissing her on the cheek I strode out the door.

Speed walking down the gravel path, I practically jump into the safety of Vee's car, despite the fact that my stomach is doing flip flops and summersaults at the knowledge that I am going to see Patch, I know I have twenty minutes of girl time with Vee.  
This thought soothes me.  
"Whoa, babe, I know your keen to see me, but I don't think I have ever seen you get out of the house so fast, you can't be that keen to hand in that biology assignment." Vee crinkles her nose at the memory of there having been an assignment.  
"Nope, I guess I just couldn't wait to see your smiling face before Coach finds out that you flunked yet another assessment task," I turn around and grin at Vee, "again."  
Vee grimaces and reluctantly steps on the gas, no doubt she is planning yet another excuse on what she can write on one of her forged notes on why she had yet again failed to present an assignment to Coach.

We sat there chatting about trivial topics and debating whether we should run a gossip column in our next edition for eZine for a few minutes, I was starting to get used to the idea of not having to tell Vee about breaking up with Patch when I heard her break the peacefulness of that moment.  
"Alright, enough small talk, what's wrong?"  
If I hadn't been so down, I would have smiled, Vee knows me so well that I could easily say that we are two halves to one person.  
"What do you mean?" I asked, all innocence  
"Well, your eyes are all puffy, and your more quiet than usual."  
I sigh, once she knows something is wrong, I doubt World War three could keep her from getting the truth out, I decide it's better for her to find out sooner rather than later because Vee has never been one to shy away from a scene.  
"I broke up with Patch." I try to say those for four words like all the explanation needed had been said.  
"Aw babe it's okay, he wasn't good enough for you anyway."  
After noticing the inquiring look from me she let rolled her eyes "Look, I know you love him, but its better that you forget about him, that boy is the definition of a criminal on legs, looks are the only thing he has going for him."  
"I think he is dating Marcie Millar," I say quietly.  
Vee lets out a long stream of curses, by the time I calm her down I can see Coldwater High looming ominously in my view.

Vee pulls into the parking lot, nearly taking out two motorcyclists; I can tell she still hasn't let out her steam yet.  
Vee and I have been best friends since primary school, although we are completely different and disagree on a lot of things, we both share a passionate hate on Marcie.  
A hate that I am fairly certain has drastically increased during the drive to school.

I exhale as I open the door to the Neon and take my first steps toward the double door entry, the feeling of dread and dismay are already sky  
high and first period has not even began.

Something tells me it will be a long day…


	4. Rebound

I sat down right as the first period bell rung, glancing sideways at the chair beside me I noticed Patch still hadn't arrived, it wouldn't surprise me if he had wagged to avoid handing in assignments.  
In fact the whole idea of Patch walking in with an A4 piece of paper that contained actual work was downright funny.  
However a new thought that formed itself inside my head that wipes the ghost of a grin I had right off my face, what if Patch doesn't really care about the assignment, what if he just doesn't want to be next to me?  
"Nora!" Coach's sharp bark shatters my inner war I had going inside myself.  
"Sir," I stutter, Coach looked down at me disapprovingly and judging from the outstretched hand that looked like it had been there for a while I have to hand in my papers, sighing, I unzip my bag and pass them to him with all the dignity I could muster.  
After listening to Coach introduce a new unit about evolution for the first half hour, my mind began to wander.  
A staged giggle made me snap back to reality, turning my head I saw Marcie and Patch walk into the classroom, she had entangled her arm in his elbow and laughing way to loud, Marcie turned her head and gave me a smug smile.  
My heart clenched, I tried to catch Patch's eye, but he was steadily avoiding eye contact as he brushed past my desk, and practically towing  
Marcie judging by how much effort she was using to cling to him.

Sneaking a peek behind me I saw that they had pulled up to a desk in the corner of the room, seeing them sit side by side made my furious swarm of butterflies turn into angry hornets instead, it was taking all my self control not to throw up my breakfast all over the desk, we had only been broken up for a day and he had already moved onto Marcie, out of all people.

"Now that Mr Cipriano and Miss Millar have been kind enough to grace us with our presence I would like us to resume our lesson," tearing my eyes away from the back of the room I saw Coach giving out the most impressive glare to towards the back corner, once again turning my head I'm not surprised to see them react with nonchalance, Marcie was reapplying yet another coat of sticky baby pink lip-gloss and Patch was slouching in his chair barley paying attention to Coach's lecture.

Checking my watch I grimaced as I realized that I still had twenty minutes of class left to go, going back to my notes I noticed Vee brush past my desk while excusing herself to go to the restroom, at the same time she discreetly slid a folded note on the top of my opened book.  
Hearing the classroom door close I quickly grabbed the note and read her scrawly writing under the desk.

'Meet me in the bathroom, don't go out yet, wait five minutes before excusing yourself to go to the front reception office.'

Doing as she instructed I waited for a long five minutes before sliding out of my desk, excusing myself to Coach before I exit out of the door, I feel a heavy dark gaze hanging onto every detail of my movement, I didn't need to turn my head towards the corner to know who it was, however for the sake of civility I steadily avoided casting my eyes in that direction and purposely marched out of the classroom.  
'Stop it,' I think to myself, if he felt the need to rebound to Marcie and rub into my face then that was fine by me, but no matter how much conviction I put into the last two words of that thought I knew that it was a lie, angry at myself for again letting my mind wander towards that  
direction I picked up my stride towards the restroom.

"I was starting to think you chose your book over me and that you weren't going to turn up." Vee swung her legs of the sink before going up to me and giving me a hug to try and give me a little comfort.  
"The thought was tempting, but as much as I love my textbook it would be a crime to set you up in the toilets to miss that time in class alone."  
"Speaking of class, please tell me that I drank way to much coffee this morning, and that would explain the Patch/Marcie hallucination."  
"Yeah about that..."  
Vee's eyes widened, "Oh my God. You're saying that I really did see herself plaster herself over him? I knew Patch isn't exactly the most ideal boyfriend material, but to see him disrespect hygiene to that extent…" Vee crinkled her nose, shaking her head in disgust, she let me talk myself out until all the tension left my body, I wasn't aware how much time had passed until she started walking towards the exit, "come on babe, we better go back to class so we don't miss the end of class, I really don't want to go into an empty classroom that has one angry Coach, and no witnesses."

Approximately three seconds after I entered the classroom and stood behind my desk the bell rang, grabbing my books I make a beeline to the door having the sudden need to get out before Patch and Marcie, as I had no desire to witness an episode of her wrapping her celery like arms around him a second time.  
Making my way over to my locker while weaving through the crowd, which is always at its worst straight after the bell goes, it takes me a few tries to pry my locker open because I'm not concentrating hard enough due to the fact that I have frustration filling in every part of my body once again, I am seriously beginning to take up those anger management courses that Vee once suggested, I give the lock an agitated tug as it refuses to open for me once again.

Finally the lock clicks open and I dump all my books inside and grabbing an apple from my bag, I head over to the bleachers to meet Vee at our usual spot, despite my bad mood the weather seems to be really good today and since I forgot my jacket I won't be forced to hang out in the shade cloth area, which is normally filled with juniors and what Vee calls the rejects to society, the label alone is very self explanatory.

As I sit alone at the bleachers for a good five minutes, I am starting to consider going back to the library to study as something is clearly keeping Vee, but finally I see Vee make her way over to where I was sitting, she wasn't alone, bedside her was a blonde haired sophomore, I dimly remembered her name being Mandy Hawkins, I remembered her from an art show once attended, as they neared me they parted ways, Vee sat herself beside me and began nibbling at her jam donut.  
"Guess that diet is going on a break." I nod at the donut to empathize.  
"Shut up, you have no idea how hungry I am, besides no rules are broken, there is raspberry jam in the middle; raspberry is a fruit, so technically I am still following the guide lines of the weight loss."  
"And you even did exercise while walking over here, guess your days done."  
Vee brightens, "You know what, I think your right, maybe ill treat myself to some chocolate slice when I get home for my good behaviour."  
I smile to myself, Vee never fails to amaze me with her skill of finding nutrition within even the unhealthiest of foods, but that's one of the things I love about her, she finds an exception to every rule, or course that's the reason we get into trouble half the time.

"You know I really think that my…" Vee's words dies in her mouth as she gaped at something in the distance, following her line of sight I quickly found out what she was looking at.

Marcie and Patch.

They were both seated underneath an old oak tree, Marcie had typically positioned herself in a sitting position between Patch's legs and she was proceeding to feeding him Twisties from a packet of chips, I watch her as she sits up and turns to face him, she slides a well manicured hand into his hair and leans in to licks the flavoring of the corner of his mouth, Patch says something to her and she rolls her eyes in exasperation.

I feel sick all of a sudden, my body feels to full and overflowing with emotions, I want to get up and run away but I am frozen stiff and I cant get my muscles to move, I look down at my hands and see that they are shaking.  
I have a sudden desire for the tree to come crashing down on the pair of them, and hopefully squash Marcie's four inch waist against Patch's -

My train of thought breaks when I feel it.  
It's the same feeling I had in the dream, I can suddenly feel the earth, somehow I feel a strange power streaking under the earth, weaving itself around in threads, its making its way over to the tree where Marcie and Patch are sitting, I can feel the threads climb up the waterways of the tree trunk, winding itself around the branches until it gradually covers the while tree, I don't have to look at Vee to know she hasn't noticed anything, I can't see the effects of my threads but I can feel them, I know exactly where each and every one of them is, and I know exactly where they are going.  
I stop short.  
My threads?

Patch seems to have felt them to, as he has stopped talking to Marcie and staring at me in surprise, his mouth popped open with shock and I  
can see disbelief in his eyes, I meet his eye and that's what does it.

Air whooshes out of my lungs and I feel a massive wave of release, it's like I got cut away from the threads, but somehow I already know what they are going to do.

An ear splitting noise of the tree trunk breaking fills the peacefulness of the afternoon, branches fly of like the tree just got exploded by dynamite, yet there are no flames, I watch as the tree trunk lets out a final groan before the trunk cracks in half and leans toward Patch.

Everything after that goes as if someone has hit the feast forward button, Patch grabs Marcie around the waist and rolls her over, a mere second before the tree came crashing down to where she was sitting, splinters fly everywhere but judging from the fact that Patch is shielding Marcie with his body, there isn't much chance that any of the flying bits of wood will do any damage to her, and of course Patch is immortal so there is no need to call nice, one, one as clearly no one got hurt .

Patch looks up and meets my eye, his dark eyes are full of shock and his mouth makes a perfect circle as it drops in surprise, seconds tick by and I fully realize of what's happened, tearing my eyes away from the scene in front of me I see Vee gaping at what used to be the Oak tree, I am faced with a sudden need to get away from the bleachers, away from the tree, and most importantly away from Patch.

As I use my hand to grab Vee I stop in surprise, my birthmark is glowing once again, the bandage fails to conceal the full effect of it, my heart starts pounding in my chest and I feel light headed, I am vaguely aware of someone shaking my shoulders and telling me its time to go, I try to stand up but the world spins in circles in front of me, and that's when everything goes black.


	5. Incidents in the infirmary

Opening my eyes the first thing I see is the familiar pale, mint green ceiling, turning over on my side, on the hard ma mattress I already know that I am in the infirmary, I don't know how long I had been out but judging from the light shining outside the window, school hasn't ended yet, turning over to my other side I am startled to see Patch sitting in a chair next to my bed, his eyes are watching me intently as if I am some kind of problem he has yet to figure out.

I sit up abruptly and the room starts tilting, sighing I put my head back on the unyielding pillow that reeks of stale lavender, looking up at Patch, his eyes still have not left me, he is the first to break the silence.  
"What happened back there?  
"What do you mean?" I stutter  
"I felt you, at first I thought I was going mad, but it was defiantly you, how did you do that Angel?"  
"Patch, I honestly have no idea what your talking about."  
"Show me your wrist Nora," Patch said quietly  
My heart skipped a beat, I shook my head, there was no way I was letting him see it, stealing a glance at the bandage I was relieved it had stopped its glowing, for some reason I didn't want Patch to know, even though I would be stupid to say that he was oblivious to the whole affair, I knew he knew something was going on that he wasn't been let into, and I had a sinking feeling that he was going to be hell bent on finding out what that something was.

"Angel?" Patch had moved closer.  
"Don't." I struggled to keep the insecurity out of my voice  
"Show me."  
"I said no Patch, besides shouldn't you be checking up if Marcie is okay?"  
"I don't want Marcie." He said this so softly I wasn't entirely sure I hadn't imagined it.  
"You don't want me either, if you had an ounce of respect for me you would have moved onto her like that."  
"How do you know what I want?" Leaning over he grasped my wrists and pinned them up above my head, his face was inches away from mine, I inhaled his scent, the heady scent of mint mixed with something more masculine was already messing with my head, whatever line I was about to say lost itself in my head.  
"What do you want?" My voice came out soft.  
Patch smiled a pirates smile, he leaned closer to answer my question by meeting my lips, his tongue expertly sliding into my mouth causing my stomach to melt, our teeth clinked, he continued kissing me slowly, moving his mouth from mine and he kissed his way down my neck, pausing to nip my earlobe before continuing further down my neck, my hands tangled themselves in his hair and my breath had becoming labored his hands had loosened their grip against my wrists.  
Both our breaths were becoming labored everything in mind was screaming wrong, but I wasn't listening to it, I didn't care about anything else but the moment I was in, Patch had returned his mouth back to mine and all the slowness of the kiss we had shared had disappeared, it was replaced by a desperation so open it took my breath away, he let out a grown that was almost territorial, he looked up and the hunger in his eyes made my heart stop in fear and excitement.  
"Not here" I rasped  
"But there isn't anybody around, and we have unfinished business to attended to, I'm going to be frank here, you owe me, and I think its time for you to pay up." His voice was deceptively soft, he was leaning in to whisper those words in my ear, letting his breath tickle my ears before he gave them another nip.  
"Patch, please." I wasn't sure what I was begging for anymore.  
Patch sighed and ran his fingers through his hair in frustration, his his eyes raked over me, an intense hunger burning through them, I knew I was playing with fire but the whole day had left me battered and confused, having my head clouded with Patch's heady scent didn't help my ability of analyzing things one bit.  
"I'll come to collect soon, and when I do not one word you will say can talk me out of it." Patch's eyes were darker than usual, and filled with their heat they were full with forbidden promises.  
"Good luck with that." I smirked up at him, my head had cleared enough to notice that one of his hands was still on my bandaged wrist, alarm bells rang in my head.  
Clearing my throat I sat up and the walls stayed in their rightful place, relieved that I had seemed to make a full recovery from my previous nausea I knew I had better get myself gathered if I was going to keep anything hidden from Patch.

Sighing I sat up, "I better get going if I'm going to get home tonight."  
"I can give you a ride home, beside i wouldn't worry about it to much, the last periods of class had only just began" Patch smirked he knew i was trying to find an excuse to leave.  
"I think i better get to class then," why did i sound so disappointed?  
"I have a better idea, why don't you stay here with me to make sure that all your dizziness goes away?" His voice was heavy with concern, but i knew his well enough to pick out the undertone of unspoken promises that went along with that offer.  
"You know that won't end well," smiling I hopped up, giving him a quick peck on the lips I pried his hand of my wrist before making my way towards the door.  
"Oh i think it would end very well," Patch's smile was all fox  
"Maybe some other time," okay, two could play the game.

I was three meters away from the door when he broke the coy game that had bee going on between us.

"Your not fooling me you know."  
"I know." There was no use keeping it from now that he knew, there wasn't anything I could say that would convince him otherwise.  
"Since when did you start keeping secrets from me Angel?" Patch hadn't moved from his seat but his eye's pinned my to the spot, I suddenly become grateful for the distance between me and him.  
"Since you started hanging out with Marcie," that wasn't the real answer, but it was the only one I could give him, actually I had no idea why I didn't want to tell Patch, I knew if anyone was to understand it would be him, but something inside me cried out that this would be my secret, and my secret alone.  
"I'm not with her because I want to be, I with her because I have to be, trust me when I say this is not my choice."  
"What's that supposed to mean?"  
"It means the archangels are messing around with my duties."  
"So…your not my guardian anymore, correct?"  
"No I'm still yours, but right now they made her my priority, if I turn this down I will become an outcast again." He paused thoughtfully, "unless I break away, she is my new assignment."  
"So that's all I ever was to you? An assignment"  
"You know that's not true."  
All the intimacy that had happened before had vanished as if it had never occurred in the first place.

"Why don't we just call this what it is?" My words sounded tired.  
"Angel?"  
"The way I see it ,I'm keeping you from your duties right now, if the archangels say you have to be with her, then that's exactly what your going to do, I think its better for us to leave each other alone until…" my words died, until what? I didn't know  
"Don't do this, it doesn't have to be this way."  
"Yes. It does." Patch, Marcie, glowing birthmarks, I could only take one thing at a time.

Turing on my heel I rushed out of the infirmary leaving him staring after me, I could feel myself coming apart again, but this way the only way I could keep protect my secret, and protect myself.  
I knew that seeing Patch skip between Marcie and me would end up hurting me even more, this was for the best I told myself firmly.  
_But was it really_? I knew I was being slightly near sighted, Patch didn't really want Marcie, but he had no choice, but what could we really do? It would be stupid to mess around on this matter, Patch already was walking on this ic when it came to the archangels sending him to hell, frustrated I told myself to accept it, we just aren't meant to be, this thought saddened me, but if I couldn't do it for myself, then I would do it for him, somehow this made my resolve slightly more bearable.

Checking my watch, I know I have left the infirmary just in time to make it to the start of fifth period, but on my way to class I heard Marcie's voice rounding the corner, frantically looking around for an escape I quickly threw myself into an empty classroom, for some reason after everything i had to witness Marcie do today I would much rather shoot myself in the face than to face her in the corridor.

Pressing myself against the wall I waited for her to pass, even so her voice floated within my hearing distance, and from the sounds of it she wasn't alone, I recognized the other girls voice as being Amber's, she was on the cheerleader squad with Marcie, wouldn't be surprised if she was one of the suck up' as well.

"But seriously, when I saw that tree fall I thought you were a goner."  
"Yeah me too, ugh out of all the times for a tree to fall..."  
"Lucky Patch was there though, looks like he is useful in more ways than one."  
"Mmm, if he only stopped caring so much about Nora." Marcie let out a huff in frustration.  
"Ugh, I hate it when ex's get in the way, but hell if you just do 'the deed' then I doubt Nora would be the last thing on his mind."  
I grimaced, I had to force myself to swallow to keep my upchuck reflex from kicking in, I doubted anyone less than a cheerleader would talk like that, my hands balled themselves into fists, and I squeeze them so hard I was pretty sure I cut my palm with my nails, I also wished that they would hurry up and walk faster, I didn't want to hear their conversation anymore than I wanted to practice free falling from extreme heights.

Finally I heard their footsteps fade into the distance and the coast was finally clear, sliding out of the classroom I made my way towards my applied geometry class, excusing myself for being late to the bored looking Mr Smith I quickly slid into an empty seat beside the window and got on with my notes.  
Working through the math problems in front of me I wasn't surprise to see that they made more sense than my life at the moment, which was ironic really, considering that i used to enjoy doing problems, but now everything just gave me unwanted little reminders.

After a long hour of school work, which seemed to drag on for longer than usual, I finally heard the shrill ringing of the bell that was telling everyone it was time to go home, grabbing my books, I headed down to my locker, grabbing all my belongings I sped walked all the way to Vee's Neon, I wasn't surprise to see that she had already bet me there, she took in my expression and said one word; "Borderline."

Yep. It was time for some therapy.


	6. Faulty Service?

After Vee parked the car in the parking lot, she had to practically haul me over to the Borderline café.  
Not that I was ungrateful for Vee taking some time off to sit down and give me are good old fashioned girl therapy session, not because I was having an inner fit of paranoia that something like the power going out and my wrist will be used as a light source to brighten up the whole place, and it certainly had nothing to do with the fact that because of my long day all I wanted to do was to curl up and go to sleep in my bed.  
No. In fact, the only thing that stopped me from marching right in and ordering a double-choc brownie with a side of strawberry cream and a vanilla smoothie, was a male figure with a cap, that was waiting on tables through the window.  
"Vee, how about we go to Enzo's"  
"What? Are you serious? Enzo's doesn't have specials on today, and I am really craving myself a Mexican style chicken burger, served with extra chips, and that special sauce."  
"Vee…" I trailed off, keeping my eyes on Patch as I did, he had now progressed to waiting on a table closer to the window, my heart did a double beat as I observed his features from a side angle, i doubted i could ever get tired at looking at his face, or the chiseled outline of his jaw, the density of his lashes, or the …  
Vee seemed to have followed my gaze throughout my daydreaming and had realized the reason to my objection to going inside Borderline.  
"Aw, babe! Just because the scenery is letting you down, is no reason to relocate, the drinks are great, and the food is awesome. Yeah you guys broke up, but its his loss, not yours."  
Apparently not satisfied with my expression, Vee ploughed on "Look at it this way; the guy nearly got crushed by a tree," she paused to raise a brow, "most people would know it's an off day to mess with their exes."

Sighing heavily, I knew Vee would accept no excuse on my behalf to go somewhere else, I let her tow me towards our usual seat at the corner, despite my desire to take myself as far away from this place as possible, I had to acknowledge the fact that it was very warm inside the café, and that worthy of appreciation considering that it was rather cold outside.

We both grabbed a menu each from the middle of the table and let ourselves have a minute in silence to decide, once the choice was made we returned our menus to their original places and exchanged small talk and gossip, it seemed hardly anytime had passed until all too soon I saw Patch come over, and my stomach dropped with dread.

"Are you ready to order?" Patch asked, but he was only looking at me, the burning intensity of that gaze penetrated right through me, whatever i had decided to have was now forgotten in some unreachable part of my head.  
"Uhh, what are the recommendations?" Since I had forgotten what I wanted, I decided it was best not to humiliate myself further by attempting to recite the menu.  
Patch let out a soft smile, "well, our Thai style chicken nuggets with chilli cause seem to be popular."  
"Greasy and full of regret, I think that would be another bad decision." Vee scowled at Patch, I didn't think she couldn't have been more obvious about what else she thought was a bad decision, however her input had me blinking I at her in surprise, it wasn't like Vee to insult Patch, in fact it wasn't like her to even look him in the eye, reason being that he intimidated the living daylights out of her most of the time, but looking at her now, I had a feeling she was having intense fantasies of thinking up of the most painful way to commit murder, I knew Patch couldn't feel pain, but that didn't stop a shiver going up my spine.  
Looking back at Patch I was just in time to see a flash of anger pass through his eyes, "or it would be a better choice for some to stick with salad." Patch made a show of looking in Vee's direction.  
Outraged Vee gave Patch her world famous scowl, "what exactly are you implying?"  
"That it would be a healthier choice?" Patch sounded sincere but I had known him long enough to recognize the sarcasm of his remark behind the innocent tone.  
"Funny, never thought you would become an expert on making healthy choices, since –"  
"I think it's just best if I stick with a skinny latte, no sugar, I'm not that hungry right now anyway." I cut off what Vee was about to say, since I knew the conversation was going to escalate into something like an extreme scene, turning around to Vee I spoke louder than necessary, "and what did you say you were having?"  
Vee scowled, "A chicken caesar wrap, with a frosted berry smoothie, and double cream on top, make that a rush order."

Scrawling down the order Patch gave Vee a final glare and a small eye roll to me, before turning around and heading towards the kitchen quarters.  
As soon as he was out of sight I turned around and glared at Vee.  
"What?" Vee asked, her tone all innocence.  
"You're going to argue with him, really?"  
"Relax babe, the guy is a total creep, I have no idea what you had seen in him, besides the fact that he is hot,but let's face it, he is an asshole. You can do way better, trust me on that."  
"That's not for you to decide." I said softly.  
"You think you can't beat a Borderline bus boy, who fails most of school, really?" By now Vee was exasperated.  
"You don't know him like I do."  
"Thank all my lucky stars for that."  
"Why are you even getting involved in this?"  
"Because I care about you! The only thing I ever see when I look at him is bad intentions, he was using you just like he is using Marcie, can't you see your just another girl he wanted to boast about having a one night stand with?" Vee's voice was starting to rise in anger.  
"That. Right there, was out of line." I surprised myself by letting out a hushed snarl.  
"You're defending him now? Patch, the very guy who sat next to _Marcie _today, and practically bounced her on his knee?"  
"It's more complicated than that."  
"That's the best damn excuse you can find for him after everything he did?"  
"It's a mess Vee, just like me, I don't know what to do with Patch any more than I know what to do with myself, he used to be my whole world, and I can't just adjust to the fact that that's changed."  
"I'm just glad it's over, once you get over him, he can't hurt you anymore."  
Unlikely, but instead of arguing I decided to simply agree.  
"I think I know what you need," Vee's sharp tone had softened, she was now looking at me with a look that was almost pity, but there were more expressions mixed into it than that.  
"And what would that be?"  
"A new guy," Vee said giving me a knowing wink, "come camping with me at the beach next week, if you can snap a guy anywhere, you'll have a better chance in a bikini."

At that moment Patch arrived with my latte and Vee's wrap, putting the cup down in front of me I felt his gaze linger over me, examining every feature carefully and taking far longer than necessary, i squirmed uncomfortably under his stare, but I didn't make eye contact with him unless it was really needed to avoid being rude, and also it was for the sake of maintaining a steady composure, glancing at Vee I didn't think she could wait until he got away by her impatient clicking.  
"Thanks." I murmured to Patch, daring to sneak a peek at him.  
"Anytime," I caught my breath as he let out a crooked smile, and I got a glimpse of his pearly white teeth, his eyes were dancing with mischief and were full of secrets, secrets that he was willing to share, blushing I looked away and saw Vee shaking her head in disapproval.  
God. Could I be anymore obvious?

"What?" I asked Vee after not being able to handle anymore of her sympathetic glances which she was unsuccessfully trying to hide.  
"When I said we need to find you a rebound boy, I think we need to do it fast and in a Patch free environment."

Once we had finished with our meals we both quickly paid for ourselves and headed towards the Neon, we didn't talk on the drive home, and Vee put on an All Time Low CD which filled up the building silence, although somehow I didn't find it awkward.

But Vee was right about one thing, as much as I hated to admit it, and that was I wasn't going to get over Patch unless I had found myself a guy.

Sighing I got out of the car and waved to Vee as she restarted the engine and pulled out of my driveway,i searched around for the key in my handbag before unlocking the door to the farm house, as soon as I was inside i headed towards my room, a quick glance at the clock told me mum wouldn't be home another three hours because she had work late tonight, so I had the house to myself again.  
Sighing I decided to head back downstairs to poured myself a glass of water to try and improve the growing ache in my head, which I suspected was cause from all of the café drama earlier.

After a couple of sips of the cool water I finally noticed that something was off about the weight of the glass, looking down i gasped in shock, the glass was half filled with water, yet the water was not touching the bottom of the glass, it was simply hovering a couple of centimeters above the bottom as if it was being held up by some unseen force, the glass slipped from my hand, as my grip loosed on it, but I let it fall to the floor while I yanked the bandage off my wrist.  
Surely enough my wrist was glowing once again, if possible it was even brighter that before, the feeling of cold fear hit me like someone had punched me in the stomach, i could feel my heart was beating erratically in my chest, and my legs seemed to have lost their strength, because the next thing I knew was that I was sliding down the wall of the kitchen counter.

What the hell happening to me?


	7. New Student

**Hey guys! **  
**I'm not to sure about including Patch's Pov in here and since this is my first time writing, and i am going slightly out of the story line to introduce his point of view in, but i am thinking of using him to explain things in more depth later on..**  
**However that being said, i rely on my reviews to help me out with my writing, and weather or not this chapter did/didn't work out, i would appreciate if you let me know by reviewing!**

**Cheers!**

Patch's Pov

I heard the alarm clock ring and I grimaced as I rolled over, gritting my teeth I absentmindedly ran my fingers through my hair.  
Again. She was in my dreams again, it was bad enough that I had to see Nora at school, but I couldn't even escape her in my dreams and i rarely even had need to sleep.  
In this one she was right by my side, where she belonged and we were holding hands and she was whispering something in my ear, but then it was almost like a shadow passed and she started looking at me with sorrow streaked all over her features and her grey eyes wild, I wanted to comfort her, but every single time I took a step forward, she would take three steps back, the dream went on like that until I could no longer see her.  
Shaking my head in frustration I threw the black sheets off my body, before I padded towards the shower, I let the water to run cold as I couldn't feel the temperature anyway, so the least I could do was to refresh my body in the cold temparture, lathering up in soap i wasn't to surprised to find my thoughts wandered towards her once again.

Why was it that I felt her presence literally tearing down that tree?  
She was human after-all, and that would be impossible for her to achieve since she didn't have enough angel blood in her system to do that, but even so I didn't that even think angel power could physically tear a whole tree down, and then snap it in half like a mere toothpick without direct physical contact, mind games were one thing, but this was something else completely.  
But surely i would have known what Nora was going to do by reading the thoughts in the atmosphere, there was just no way she could have done something like command a tree to snap in two without me noticing, and the action would have taken way to much power to be unintentional, so i could not figure out how it possibly could have been her...  
But on the other hand, when I was with Marcie I could feel Nora, and i could feel her feelings as if they were my own, her feeling of pain and betrayal through the guardian bond that had seared through me like a hot blade, but it still didn't cover what I felt after woods;  
It was on entirely different level. It was almost like she_ was_ the earth, she _was_ the rocks, and she _was_ the tree, I could feel her presence like she had taken the forms off all those things, but I remember looking back at her,and seeing she was still on those bleachers.  
But something in her facial expression i knew would haunt me forever, I recalled how her face was frozen in horror, but at the same time she looked as if she was in a trance, the next thing I remembered was the groaning sounds of the tree right before it came crashing down, and how it seemed to go out of its way to break in the right spots to crush Marcie.

Slamming my fist into the tile wall I scowled, I knew she was keeping something from me, and it was something big, ever since we broke up she stopped telling me things, and every time I tried to talk to her I would get distracted by well... her.  
Whatever was going on I knew she was scared, I kept on feeling her fear through the bond, yet it wasn't the type that someone else would cause, it could have something to do with what i had seen when I carried her to the infirmary, her wrist was glowing, I could see it through the bandage, I was going to take the bandage off to investigate further but when I put my hand on her wrist, her whole body convulsed from pain and she let out a silent scream, I wasn't sure if it was from contact or whatever she was seeing in her unconscious state, but I didn't want to risk hurting her further..  
Remembering the turn of events had me even more frustrated, what the hell was going on with Nora that had her wrist _glowing_?

Turning of the water I walked towards my wardrobe, pulling on a pair of dark denim jeans and a white t-shirt, I wasn't sure what was going on anything anymore, but one thing was certain; there was something seriously wrong with Nora, and whatever it was, it had her so scared she didn't think she could talk to anyone.

Checking the clock I knew I was late, mouthing a silent curse I quickly gathered all my belongings before walking out of my house, I was briefly stuck into an inner debate on how I was going to get to school, but I ended up on deciding on the motorbike, since Marcie hated riding on it, and it increased the chance of her not requesting a lift.

The drive to school was brief, and all too soon it ended, I wished I had thought to drive slower, but something about speed had always had a calming affect on me.  
Looking around the car-park I observed that there were no students hanging around their cars, and the entry doors weren't crammed by jittery female sophomores, who were always stuck in endless conversations about the new edition of teen magazines, or the current relationship status on members of the football squad, were also absent, in fact the whole place was empty.  
Mouthing a curse I knew I was extremely late, and the knowledge of having Coach first up had me seriously considering to skip, but the opportunity to be in the same room as her had my feet walking towards the classroom as if they had a mind of their own.

Mercifully, Coach didn't acknowledge my presence as I walked in the classroom,although I could sense annoyance from his aura, but it seems he thought the topic at hand had more importance than lecturing me about the being on time.  
I knew I shouldn't but I stole a glance at Nora as I passed her desk, even the sight of her made me catch my breath, she was wearing her hair out today, so it tumbled in glossy auburn waves below her shoulders, she was gnawing her lip in concentration as she poured over her notes.  
I had a forbidden urge to ease those teeth of those incredibly soft lips apart with my own, to have her mouth on mine, and to hear her say my name like it was the only word she knew, it was taking all my self control not to do just that then and there, instead i forced my legs to walk past her seat and towards the desk ahead.

I wasn't surprised to find Marcie had saved me a seat as I made my way towards Marcie's desk, as I sat down I got a feeling of dread, just because I didn't hate Marcie, didn't mean I liked her, in fact her attempts of advancing our relationship further with what she thought was seduction was seriously starting to get on my nerves, shaking my head I knew it would be fertile to simply say no,as the girl had no understanding of the word having never been denied of anything her entire life, if anything I knew it would make her more determined, I grimaced at the less than pleasant thought and quickly decided it would be safer to react with indifference to her approaches.  
Surely enough I looked down to see her hand slowly creeping up my thigh, forcing myself to give a careless smile, I removed her offending hand, shaking my head at her in exasperation, I pretended to return my attention to the board.  
"Relax, Coach is way to focused to notice anything that goes on at the back of the room," Marcie whispered in my ear before giving me a knowing wink.  
_Its not because of Coach that I don't want to go there.._ I thought to myself  
"Maybe not right now." I coughed.  
Annoyed Marcie pulled her hand away, "when, then?"  
"Sometime real soon," I lied smoothly.  
"How about my house after school? Come over for uhh…catch up study?" Marcie nibbled her lip suggestively.  
"Cant, have some business to take care of out of town, but ill take you up on that offer some other time." I had to put effort in sounding remorseful, her advances were starting to get more than irritating, it was bad enough to have Nora break up with me over Marcie, but having Marcie pester me all the time about what she called having a 'beneficial friendship' was really starting to have me seriously considering going rouge, the worst the archangels could do was throw me into hell, and even that couldn't be as bad as putting up with Marcie, every day, all day, I sighed, at least Rixon would be there to keep me some company, of course it wouldn't be long before Marcie joined up, heaven was going to have a lock down whenever she passed away.  
But she wasn't going to pass away I reminded myself firmly, it was my job to ensure that occurrence never happened, but something was not right and it was gnawing at me, if someone was out to get Marcie I knew I would have felt it with my angel powers, and no one knows she has a guardian so they wouldn't bother taking that much care to mask their thoughts because they wouldn't know anyone was monitoring, yet I was always starting to getting unexpected bursts of fear, confusion, and pain from Nora, so why were the archangels so dead set on me focusing my attention to Marcie for the time being? Did they know something was going on with Nora?

Switching his attention back to reality, I noticed that Coach had finally finished talking about the evolution of plants throughout history, and had now moved onto a more interesting topic judging from the interest in body language which most of the class was now displaying, raising my eyebrow I wondered what had even gotten Marcie's attention to a different direction.  
I tuned into Coach's speech just in time to hear his excuse himself to leave the classroom after giving a brief behavior expectation speech.

Marcie turned to me, and for once the spark in her eye was not because she was picturing my naked, she seemed a little too excited, considering that whatever had been announced had been down so by Coach.  
Did you hear? It seems we have a new student have a surprise enrollment at our school."  
"Oh, is that so?" I tried without success not to sound indifferent.  
"Yes it-," Whatever Marcie was about to say was cut off with the sound of the door opening, her mouth popped open in shock.

But it wasn't the boys entry that had me snapping me head up as well, I knew it before I made eye contact with him, I could feel the power coming off him, even though he was making an effort to conceal it; the new comer was an angel-blood.

I couldn't help but mouth a curse under my breath as I noticed he had recovered from seeing me there and he started to fix his steady gaze onto the desk in front of him.  
My hands formed a fist and I could only think of one thing…

Nora.


	8. Mind Games

Coaches presence demanded everyone's attention as he cleared his throat in a way that let everyone know that he meant business, reluctantly turning my head away from Vee who had now replaced the vacant spot that was once preoccupied with Patch, but since it was Patch that was influencing Coach to change the seating plan in the first place, it only made sense on why it worked in reverse a situation and enabled him to score a seat as far away from me as possible without getting badgered. I had to blink several times to take my mind away from the less than pleasant thought and had to steel myself to focous on Coach rather than go to the dark edges of my mind to face the truth about me and Patch, i knew putting it off wasn't doing me any favors, yet I just was not ready to come to terms with the fact.

Coach waited for the classroom to go silent, while skewering us all with his shrewd glare, anyone who failed to take the hint to fall silent was always turned into an example by being sent outside and to wait until class was over before making it up in their own time, I only knew this fact because I had to listen to Vee talk about how she had found this out the hard way, on more than one occasion.  
Because all of us already knew the drill, it did not take long for the whole class to settle down, assuming that no one was in the mood to spend lunch clearing the gum from under the desks with Coach as company.  
"Now that you are all settled and I have your undivided attention this way, I have an announcement to make," Coach paused to glare at a guy called Louis because he was doing sign signals to one of the girls in the front row before continuing with his introduction, "as of now we have two new students enrolled in the class, however one cannot be here today due to personal reasons, so please make our new student Hunter Jones feel _very_ welcome."  
As if on cue the new student stepped out of the hallway and inside the classroom, if I hadn't been so wrapped up in Patch, I knew I would also had been one of the many girls who caught their breath as he took his first three steps in.

As I took in Hunters features, I had an odd rush of déja-vu, and I felt like I had known him before, I already knew that he would have wavy sandy blonde hair that would lay about his head in an unorganized ruffle, and skin that was tinted golden from the many hours he spent in the sun, which was bizarre because I was only seeing this boy for the first time.  
Looking up at Hunter, I allowed myself to take him in, since I wouldn't be the only one, I didn't have to look to hard to know that he would have a muscled body and maybe washboard abs under the loose white t-shirt he wore, his arms were wrapped in muscle, but not in a way that would make him unpleasantly intimidating, he was simply dressed in a tee-shirt and dark denim jeans, with canvas shoes on his feet, but despite the carefree dress style that he had put himself in, it still couldn't hide the alert and confident posture that he held while he analysed the class, his full mouth was set into a cheerful grin, but stilled a little as he caught sight of something in back of the classroom, but I could have imagined it because I blinked and his cheery expression was back again, however as he looked down, his eye's suggested otherwise, as they didn't match the cheerful expression with their sharpness.

I finally did catch my breath as I locked my gaze with his, his clear grey eyes bore into me and the corner of his mouth rose up slightly, his eyes searched mine and I gasped, I _defiantly_ knew him from somewhere, but the longer I tried to grasp the thought, the father away it faded to the back of my mind until I could barely even remember what I was thinking in the first place, shaking my head I couldn't help but wonder if the carefree attitude was just an act, his eyes were far too clear to make me think he was not here for a reason, and that thought put an uneasy feeling to my stomach.  
_Long time no see Nora._  
I stiffened as I felt those words creep into my mind.  
I knew this feeling, these thoughts were not my own, in fact this was how Patch sometimes communicated with me, yet I knew this was not Patch, somehow the voice and texture of the thought was…Different, yet somehow very familiar.

"Oh my, I don't think this one will have any trouble feeling welcome." Vee sniggered into my ear.  
"You don't say." I muttered back, finally breaking eye contact.  
Vee started subtly fanning herself, and I took that as I sign that she was incapable of doing anything more that mouth the word _hot_ to me in a repetitive rhythm at the current moment.  
Unfortunately it seemed like Vee's fanning had caught Coaches attention, "Vanessa Sky, I thought I had relocated you from Miss Grey's desk?"  
"But Patch doesn't sit ne-" Vee's words were cut off by Coach.  
"I separated you two, and I did it for a_ reason_, Mr Jones you may take Miss Sky's seat, since she will be moving next to Miss Cooper.  
There was a moment of silence, Vee's faced was filled with outraged disbelief.  
"Now." Coach called out in a commanding tone.  
Giving Vee a small sympathetic smile, I ushered for her to go before she could argue, I knew that would be a fight that would be lost before it even started.  
Vee stuck her index finger up at Coach's back as she got up to move.

Hunter slid into Vee's seat in one fluid motion, giving me a small smile, he leaned over and rummaged through his bag until he found what he was looking for, grabbing his books out of his bag he dropped them onto the desk.  
"Do you have a pen I can borrow?"  
I was startled to hear his voice, out of all the things that seemed to be eerily familiar, his voice was the only thing that I didn't recognize, but it was a pleasant, unlike Patch's firm yet husky tone, Hunter's voice was velvety and smooth.  
Tuning back to reality I realized Hunter was still waiting for an answer, or at least a response, forcing myself to smile I opened my own bag and handed him a black biro from one of the compartments, I didn't know what it was, but something about the familiarity I felt towards a complete stranger made me feel disorientated yet somehow safe.

"It may be running out of ink." I said apologetically.  
"It's fine, ill have my own by tomorrow anyway, but thanks for today."  
"Don't mention it."  
"So is that your boyfriend over there?" Hunter asked, nodding towards Patch  
I blinked at Hunter, "excuse me?"  
"It just seems like the guy has something going with you."  
"What would give you that impression?" I raised my eyebrow intrigued.  
"Well let me out it to you this way, if you cant feel him burning a hole in your back, then I sure can," Hunter widened his grin, giving me a knowing wink, his tone suggested that he was only half joking.  
_Half._  
A bubble of laughter escaped my lips, but it stopped quickly as I shook my head in denial, "it's not like that anymore, as you can see he has a replacement." I cocked my head back into Marcie's direction.  
Hunters gaze followed my motion and he nodded to himself at the sight of Marcie blowing a bubble with her gum, while texting on her Iphone, no doubt already going onto the school office website to track Hunter's number since she regally worked with the receptionists to help org anise big events.  
Hunter snorted, "Well by looking at her, I'd say gum isn't the only thing she likes to blow."  
"Why however did you know?" I asked in mock surprise.  
"Cheerleaders. Enough said." Hunter nodded to himself  
"Been there done that?" I giggled  
"Got the t-shirt..." Hunter said regretfully  
"Well over here, you could say that Marcie is the whole wardrobe."  
" Wouldn't doubt that." Hunter chuckled.

Despite my gut feeling of knowing Hunter, I still felt a little uneasy around him, but it's not the type that told me I was in danger, sneaking a peek at Hunter I was startled to see him watching me with a torn expression full of sadness, pity and-...  
Hunter seemed to have noticed me looking because his mask was back, returning his attention back to his book he picked up the pen.  
_I'm sorry..._  
Once again I couldn't help but stiffen my spin at the uninvited presence in my head, turning my head towards Hunter I noticed he was watching me intently, however I had already been though the whole verbal confrontation with Patch, and I'm guessing the results would be similar, however unlike last time, Patch hadn't taught me how to use telepathy during summer break, I had picked it up surprisingly quickly, keeping in mind how diluted my angel blood had become.  
Two could play the game.  
_What about?_  
I knew Hunter had gotten my message, because his eyes widened in shock, and his mouth popped open in surprise, forming a perfect circle with his lips.  
After two beats of silence and of being gawked at by Hunter who apparently still hadn't recovered from my own version of retaliation, I decided to break the silence.  
"Need help with the biology task?" I nodded in amusement toward his book, which was still empty.  
Hunter shook his head stiffly.  
I wondered if I had gone to far by invading his peace of mind when I noticed I apparently wasn't the problem, looking at Hunter I had noticed his attention was now turned away from me, and he was focusing on Patch, his mouth was set in a grim line, and his light grey eyes had suddenly turned stormy with anger.  
I was taken aback to see Hunter like that, over the short period of time that I had known him, it still felt oddly strange for him to suddenly let off such an ominous vibe, if looks could kill, I was pretty sure Patch would have dropped like a stone.  
Patch seemed to have sensed that he was being watched, because he slowly raised his head to meet Hunters glare steadily, his already dark eyes had gone completely black, and something that was only found in the gaze aggressive feral animal that had been prodded way to much had taken over his eyes, even from a distance I could see his whole body tensing, his grip tightening on the plastic biro that had been loosely clasped in his right hand just moment ago.  
A low snarl bought my attention back to Hunter, I shivered, the atmosphere between them would be enough to freeze the sun over. In fact it had seemed that everyone else in the classroom had sensed it as well because one by one heads turned to our direction.

Knowing that this was not destined to have a good ending I nudged Hunter while I repeated the question.  
Hunter blinked at me as if he only just realized I was there, turning around so he had his back to Patch he ran his hands through his hair absentmindedly.  
"Yeah, I think I could use the catch up." He sighed.  
I spent the next ten minuted explaining to him Isaac Newtons theory of evolution, but even though he was looking at me, I didn't think he listened to a word I said, in fact he seemed rather preoccupied with his own thoughts to even notice anything even if Coach strided up to him naked and did a strip tease in front of him.

Mercifully the bell rang out shorty after, and everyone quickly grabbed their belongings and filed out of the classroom door, I did the same but was stopped by the sound of Coaches voice.  
"Grey, may I have a minute?"  
"Sir?" I turn around warily.  
"I have noticed you get along well with Mr Jones, may I ask you to show him around the school and ensure he settles down."  
I groaned inwardly, out of all the girls that would be more than happy to do the role, it had to be me?  
"I guess I could show him around."  
"Very well, that is all I wanted to talk to you about, you may go now."  
I didn't need to be told twice, I hurried out of the classroom before Coach wanted me to do his lunch patrol for him as well, in my haste to get out of the classroom I ran straight into a figure that was blacking my way in the corridor.  
"S-sorry about that." I stutter as I picked up my books and attempted to gather all the loose notes that had spilled out onto the floor.  
"We need to talk."  
A lump caught itself in my throat, of course I could not have run into anyone else but Patch.


	9. Demands

Luck.  
It must hate me with a passion, as it seemed to go out of it's way to make sure to avoid me, because if I had just a shadow of it left somewhere around me then it certainly would not be letting Patch drag me up to the school roof. No, it would have brought a meteor crashing down on me, or at least aim a runaway rocket at my head before that happened, however if I did have it then the chances were it was probably passed put somewhere, with no desire what so ever to take me out of this mess.

Patch's grip on my elbow tightened as he pulled me up the concrete stairs, our footsteps dully echoing off the narrow walls, I wasn't sure what was colder, the atmosphere between me and Patch or the chilly stale air that constantly hung over the stairwell that was always mixed with the thick scent of smoke. Thankfully we soon came up to a door that was harshly yanked open by Patch, I was grateful for the leftover rays of the sun that spilled across my face, as they had a soothing effect on me, which was fortunate because I was alone with Patch. The realization really seemed to hit home when I turned back around and saw Patch turn the lock on the only exit back to freedom. Great. It was only me and him now.

"So, Hunter huh?" I tried to keep my voice neutral, but had to curse myself because even I could hear the burning curiosity behind my innocent phrase. Glancing back at Patch I was expecting to find him fighting a smile at my pathetic attempt at indifference, but instead I was surprised to see a dark flare light up in his eyes, he seemed to feel me observing him because he soon managed to compose his features into a cold mask, almost concealing the glint of fury that continued to burn in his already black .

"That guy is bad news Angel." The tone of his voice froze me over, it was like someone had thrown a bucket of ice cold water into my face, I knew the coldness of his voice wasn't directed at me, but that didn't mean I liked it."What's your problem?" I snapped."He is an angel blood Nora," Patch's voice was clipped, "and unlike Dabria, he was an archangel, just like me.

"Really? You know this how?" Even as I said it, the news hadn't come as a big shock to me, I knew he had to have some angel blood in him to communicate with me through thoughts, although he wasn't Nephilim as I had predicted.

"Because I can feel his power damn it," Patch startled me by smashing his fist into the wall, making a large imprint where his knuckle had been, "and he felt mine too."

"So we have another angel blood walking around town, that's hardly news."

"He is an angel blood," Path repeated the phrase as if I was an imbecile that was hardly capable of comprehending what he was saying. "Do you really think he came to Coldwater High just to repeat high school?"

"Alright smart ass, since you're the expert then what did he come here for?" I challenged, his tone had irritated me, or maybe it was the impatient look that was streaked across his face.

"First day of school, and already Vee's spot has been coincidentally replaced, a bit of a coincidence don't you think?"

"What's_ that_ supposed to mean?" I narrowed my eyes down at him.

"Gee I wonder," Patch threw his arms up in exasperation. "An angel blood comes into our school, happens to get into an already full class, and then scores a seat right next to you, do the maths Nora."

"He won't harm me." I didn't know where the comment came from, but I heard the truth ring out in my words, somehow I knew I was right.

"I can't say harm is in his intentions." Patch's voice had gone deadly soft.

"Well then humour me Patch," I narrowed my eyes into slits, "what are his intentions with me then?"  
"Angel." Patch's tone was coloured with concern, and something else I couldn't quite put my finger on…

"What?"

"Stay away from him," Patch's voice was hard, yet his eyes were searching mine, "don't let him get close to you."

I don't know what it was about that comment that sent a sudden hot flash of anger coursing through my body, but suddenly I was furious, what gave him the right to order me around? He had been very preoccupied with Marcie, so why the change of heart? I threw my head back and let out a cold laugh, "You no longer have the authority to tell me who I should and shouldn't hang out with anymore Patch."

"Are you really making this about me right now?" Patch asked in disbelief.

"You want too much. First Marcie and then you switch to me, I'm sorry but it just won't work any more like that," I took a breath, my voice was rising. "If I want to hang out with Hunter than that's my choice to make."

"Nora-"

"And you know what? I think that's exactly what I think I might do." Turning around I strode towards the exit, it seemed that my legs couldn't get me away from there fast enough, my fingers had just brushed the lock on the door when I felt a pair of hands grab my shoulders and slam me into the wall, my back crashed into the concrete hard, although I didn't feel the pain through my surprise.

"This is not a game," Patch hissed at me, his eyes flashing with fury, "you have no idea how fragile you are, or how easily I could break you, yet I am the one who has to keep you safe, but you seem to be hell bent on challenging that."

"Patch. Let go." I was surprised by how calm I sounded when my heart was beating loudly in my chest.

"I may be immortal, but even I have limits too." Patch didn't seem to hear me, his fingers tightened into my shoulders. "Don't test them Angel, you're not ready to fully step into my world yet, you have no idea how cruel it gets when an angel has something they want."

"Oww Patch, let go you're hurting me," as I said this Patch widened his eyes in surprise and he stiffly extracted his hand from my shoulders, only to put them palm down on the wall on either side of me.

"We. Don't. Stop. Until we get what we want." Patch's breath tickled my ears as he whispered into them.

"What stopped you then?" I caught my breath.

"Nothing." I could feel his smirk on my neck as he trailed his way down, "you're what I wanted all along." His body pressed closer to mine, closing the small gap we had between us.

No! I don't want this now…wait no, maybe I do. My mind fogged over as he continued trailing kisses down my neck, he removed one hand from the wall to pop the first few buttons of my shirt, while nuzzling it open with his nose, ticking my chest in the process. His hand then proceeded to snake under my shirt, slowly trailing upwards while tracing patterns on my stomach with a feather light touch; I let out a small moan as he slowly inched past my hip. His kisses turned wild and desperate, I could taste a hint in fear in them as he pulled me closer to him, his tongue expertly exploring my mouth, I could feel his hot breath filled with need, by now his hands were completely removed from the wall, and my hands had somehow entangled themselves in his hair, I huffed in protest as he removed his mouth from mine while he went down onto my neck, trailing fiery kisses on his way down, pausing to nip gently at my shoulder blade. His other hand was now moving up my thigh.

Wait what? I blinked a couple of times, suddenly falling out of my daze, everything screamed for me to run for the door, but my body was too heavy with desire to make past the door, let alone a whole flight of stairs."Patch." I mumbled under my breath, finally figuring out how to make my lips move.

"Hmm?" His breath vibrating against my skin, causing a tingling sensation to shoot up my spine.

"Stop…We need to stop." I groaned as he started trailing his way back up.

"And what if I don't?"

"You will." I rasped.  
"What makes you say that?" Patch pulled away, letting his steady gaze penetrate me, he looked at me like he could see right through me, "I think you are over estimating my self control Angel, I couldn't stop even if I wanted to, not now."

I groaned inwardly as the full meaning of the words sunk in, I pushed against his chest lightly trying to force him back, but he stayed put, continuing his way down, but maybe it didn't matter any more, I knew it was only a matter of time before my will caved in, besides it was going to happen someday, he knew that just as well as I groaned, while his kisses intensified, but that's all it took to push me over the  
edge, it was just me and Patch now…

"I think she told you to stop." We both froze as a third voice shattered our let out a low hiss as he swung around, shielding me with his body, my heart stopped as I realized who it was that had just spoken, and also probably saw the whole thing, I frantically buttoned up the two buttons on my shirt before raising my face up to the intruder, my stomach dropped in dread as I saw who it was. I couldn't stop the palm that seemed to be automatically hurling itself towards my forehead, the loud crack as it hit breaking the awkward silence, my cheeks turned flaming red as I felt the blood rush up my face, I suddenly wished that the ground would cave in and swallow me up so I would have to face him out of all people after what just nearly happened, my mouth dumbly moving itself to form the one word that I was capable of saying…

"Hunter?"


	10. Decision

**Hey guy's!  
Yes it has been a while since I updated, but my teachers at school decided to pile on four large assignments at once, so my hands have been pretty full for the last couple of weeks.**  
**Okay so the story is starting to only just wind up (Warning for those you like short story's this one will NOT be one of them), if you noticed an improvement in my work, it would be all thanks to my amazing editor to whom I will be forever grateful for the improvements. **  
**Thank you so much for those who took the time to leave a review it really means a lot and gives me so much more motivation after reading them.**  
**Please keep up the good work and comment!**

"Hello to you too." Hunter grinned mischievously at me while sending a jaw dropped in shock, it was bad enough that he caught me sucking face with Patch, but this was defiantly not the time to be exchanging chit chat.

Patch tensed in front of me, every muscle had gone taunt and he looked like he was ready to spring at a moments notice."What are you doing here?" The sound of Patch's voice sent shivers down my spine even though it wasn't directed at me.

Hunter's grin grew wider. "Well I happened to get caught up with Vee in the corridor, she seemed to be in a real hurry to leave, so I offered to take Nora home, but then I couldn't find you or her, so there's only so many places two people could be..."

"That won't be necessary." Patch's voice was filled with venom, however Hunter didn't seem to be intimidated, he just shrugged his shoulders and looked at me, it took me a while to figure out he was waiting for me to respond.

"Uhh, I think I'll just walk, my house isn't that far from the school." I didn't really look forward to hitch hiking my way home, but starting an argument between Patch and Hunter was a lot lower on my list. Unfortunately Hunter wasn't having any of that, "Vee told me the address Nora, it's a four hour walk, and I can't have a girl like you walking alone in the dark, it's dangerous out there."  
I silently cursed Vee for putting me into this situation, why couldn't she just text me to tell me what was going on instead of deciding things for  
me, either way someone was going to leave the rooftop being very unhappy..

"She isn't going home with you." Patch hissed.

"Oh?" Hunter raised an eyebrow, "I don't think the decision lies with you, let her make her own choices for once."

I glared at Hunter, silently cursing him for making me decide, he caught my eye and raised his eyebrow expectantly.  
I sighed knowing that no one was leaving until I made the choice, and I knew another few minutes alone with Patch wouldn't exactly benefit me either, "where are you parked?" I asked Hunter.

Hunters grin only got bigger. "Only one way your going to find out."

I took a couple of steps but was stopped by a tight grip on my wrist.

"You're not going home with him Angel."  
"I'll see you tomorrow Patch." I sighed warily.  
"I wasn't giving you a choice."  
"Don't make this harder than it needs to be." I snapped.  
We glared at each other, I felt like averting my gaze but that would be like admitting defeat, it was only when I felt an arm sling around my shoulder that I reluctantly averted it to Hunter and shook my wrist free from Patch's grip while side stepping out of Hunters arm, I rolled my eyes at the testosterone which was clouding the atmosphere.

"Let it go mate." Hunter chuckled at Patch, giving him a heavy clap on the back with his left hand, the normally friendly gesture somehow had a mocking edge to it, I knew I wasn't the only one thinking that after one look in Patch's direction. Patch glared at the offending hand before grabbing Hunter by the collar, his knuckles tightening around the fabric before taking a step closer so that he was one inch away.

"Stay out of this." His voice was deadly calm, speaking the words slowly to give them time to sink in, most people would have surrendered and stepped back, but I couldn't have been more surprised to see Hunter throw his head back and give a light that's what did it. "Alright then." Patch snarled before smashing his fist straight into Hunters face, causing his head to snap back from the impact before Patch released his collar.

Hunter took a step back. "That was a really bad move." He remarked before easing into a circling routine that Patch had already resumed. Hunter lunged first, tackling Patch onto the hard concrete before returning the punch, there was a sickening crack as his fist connected with Patch's face, Patch didn't seem to be too fazed by the hit and didn't waste time by clipping Hunter in the nose and rolling him over until he had the upper hand position and then promptly hammering down a series of blows that would be sure to leave their mark. Hunter grunted as he seemed to recover from the turn of events by snaking out his arm and locking Patch into a headlock while ramming his own fist into Patch's abdomen, they sprang apart when this position hadn't given anyone an advantage. Rolling of the ground and straightening up, Hunter's nose was bleeding heavily and Patch already had signs of a bruise blooming on the left side of his face. Patch grunted as his foot struck out, hitting Hunter on the leg, causing it to give in, Patch didn't waste anytime moving in to shove Hunter against the wall while he had an open opportunity. I had been frozen in shock the whole time, staring silently at the scene that was unfolding itself in front of my eyes. Blinking a couple of times I forced myself to snap out of the stupor, even though I knew that neither of them felt a thing, my heart still twisted at the knowledge that one of their bodies would collapse once it had reached it's limit, and I had no intention of letting it come to that. I screamed for them to stop but neither of them seemed to hear me as they were both to caught up in the fight.

I flinched at the sound of something cracking as the blows that were being exchanged got heavier, Patch had Hunter backed up against the wall as he seemed to have finally gained the advantage position. I forced my limbs to move, since telling them to stop had the same effect as screaming at a wall I knew I had to take action. I waited for Patch's fist to draw back for another hit before leaping into the small gap between them, I held my breath as Patch's fist came hurtling back, flinching as I waited for the hit to come, but it never did. Opening one eye I saw that he had stopped a mere millimeter from my face.

"I said stop." I breathed out, relieved that my face didn't get hammered.  
"Move." Patch's voice came out cold. I flinched because I had never heard him use that kind of tone with me, but I refused to give in so I looked him in the eye and shook my head, not trusting my voice to stay steady.  
"This isn't your fight." Patch held my gaze. "Move." He repeated.  
"No." I said more firmly, backing up closer to Hunter, putting my hands against both sides of the wall. " I'm not going to let you hurt each other." I paused to take a breath and steady myself. "Not over me."  
"He had it coming, let me finis-"  
"Leave." I cut him off, if I had to choose between them then I was going to choose Hunter, since I was sure no matter what I said to Patch would reach him, he was like a wild panther, no sense of reason could stop him.  
"You're choosing_ him_?" His eyes widened in surprise.  
"Do you want me to answer that question hypothetically or alphabetically?" I was getting really irritated now. Why was he acting so narrow minded?  
"Angel," Patch warned, hurt flashing in his eyes.  
No, no, no! I didn't really want to choose anyone. I just hated to see them fighting one another over no good reason. My mouth started moving on it's own accord, and the words were out before I could stop them.  
"Just go back to Marcie, I'll go home with Hunter."  
"Is that how you want it?"  
No.  
"I don't have any other choice."

Patch's eyes went black, he took a step forward closing in the distance between me and him, as if it wasn't bad enough that I was already wedged against Hunter. I held my breath dreading for him to come closer, hoping he did.  
He opened his mouth, looking torn between decisions before snapping it shut, his expression suddenly went blank, all emotion washing out of his face, the only sign that he did feel something was his hands as they curled themselves into fists so tight that his skin paled.  
"Fine. Just don't expect me to act surprised if he does something to hurt you, he is bad news Angel, worse than I could ever be."  
Then leaning past me he whispered into Hunters ear, I had to strain to hear him. "Lay a hand on her, and I will rip both of your arms off. This isn't over."

And with that he stepped back as if he had narrowly missed making contact with someone with a contagious disease before striding out of the door, slamming it shut as he went out. My knees gave out from beneath me, if Hunter hadn't been standing behind me then I would have  
crashed onto the floor, but his hands shot out, steadying my elbows and keeping me upright.

"Thanks." I muttered.

His eyes softened as his grey eyes raked over me, he stepped from the wall, snaking his arm around my waist to steady me more which was pretty pathetic on my account considering I hadn't been the one in a fight.

"Are you okay? His brows furrowed in concern.

I let out a low laugh, "I should be asking you the same thing," nodding at his nose which had seemed to stop bleeding.

Hunter wrinkled his nose. "Not my best fight I'll have to admit."

I scowled. "Not your most logical one either."

Hunter shrugged. "I'm not the one who dished out the first hit."

"You can't win against Patch." I shook my head sadly. Something in what I said earned me a soft smile.

"Is that a challenge?" he raised a blonde brow.

"Nope," I shook my head sadly, "it's a fact."

This earned a full laugh from Hunter even though I didn't find anything I had said funny. "Nora," he coughed out as he led me out into the parking lot, "nothing is fact until it's proven."

I raised a questioning brow which earned an amused shake from Hunter. The drive home with him was pleasant, we chatted easily whilst exchanging jokes and snide comments, but the drive home seemed to end too quickly because the car soon started slowing down as he eased into the familiar gravel driveway.

"Do you want me to walk you down?"

"I think I can manage." I gave him a wide smile. I felt grateful that he had been there for me today, however I also felt like I had been in a situation very similar to this before. I pulled on the door handle, when I felt Hunters grip on my arm, I cocked my head to the side questionably.

"Say, you wouldn't happen to be free Sunday afternoon by any chance?" Hunter asked, withdrawing his arm.

"I might be."

"Great, I'll pick you up at six, be ready." And with a last wink he sped off before I had a chance to protest.

Sighing I slowly trudged my way up to the farm house, things would be so much easier if I felt the same about Hunter as I felt about Patch. Even though I hadn't known him for very long he seemed to have a far less complicated personality, yet Patch's warning kept on ringing in my head, what did he mean Hunter was worse than he could ever be? Shrugging my shoulders I headed to the kitchen, it was pretty late but mom must be still at work because the house was empty. After a brief survey of the kitchen I found a note on the bench top.

_'Going to be home late tonight, casserole is in the fridge.'_

After examining the contents of the fridge I decided to stick with an apple as I didn't think my stomach could handle anything else after the stressful day, washing a green apple in the sink I heard the phone ring, I picked it up and had to quickly withdraw it a few centimeters from my ear.

"Babe! You got home alright? I called you like five times already, where were you after school?"  
I sighed warily, "I got a lift from Hunter, he told me you left already."  
Vee squealed in my ear and demanded for details, after explaining the whole rooftop incident to her I wasn't surprised to find that she was replacing Patch with Hunter.

After a three hour conversation with Vee I had to reluctantly put the phone down to face the biggest challenge of the evening; homework.


	11. date

The rest of the week flew by in an uneventful blur and before I knew it Sunday was staring me right in the face, I had already considered bailing on Hunter a few times but then I decided against it since I really had no good reason and spending yet another afternoon going through my English papers was a total buzz killer.

I had spent most of the day lazing around the house, but taking a look at the clock I realized I had little more than an hour to get ready, sighing heavily because I knew I couldn't put it off any longer I grabbed a pair of black skinny jeans and a simple creamy coloured shirt that would tightly hug my body before heading towards the bathroom. Stepping into the shower I welcomed the feel of the hot water hitting my body as I thoroughly lathered vanilla and lemon scented shampoo through my hair, letting my fingers work through the knots that had formed before rinsing it out. Grabbing a soap bar from the shampoo rack in my shower I rubbed the soap onto my body, enjoying the slick feel of it against my skin. Climbing out I quickly blow dried my hair and decided to let it fall into its natural waves since I knew trying to tempt it into submission by flat ironing it or attempting anything past a pony tail would only end in disaster, checking myself out in the mirror I decided to keep the make up to a minimum, brushing on only the basics which included some mascara, my foundation and a light coating of the peachy flavoured lip gloss my mom had given me for my birthday. I frowned as I glanced out of the small bathroom window, noting the gusts of wind that were causing the trees to wave from to side to side, somehow I doubted that my cream coloured top would provide me with protection from the windy weather. Deciding it was never a bad move to be on the safe side I headed up to my room and grabbed a black leather jacket from my wardrobe before completing my look with a thick golden bracelet. Satisfied with the results I started rummaging through my handbag to collect my purse and phone.

Grabbing the last of the essentials I sighed as I heard the sound of a car pull down my driveway, glancing out the window I couldn't help but grin at the familiar sight of a black convertible pulling over, I didn't get all the way downstairs before I heard a knock on my front door, I rolled my eyes in amusement noting the fact that he would have had to jog up to my porch to beat me, I shoved my feet into a pair of black flats before I walked up to the door. Taking a couple of breaths I reminded myself it was Hunter on the other side.  
Pulling the door open I was rewarded by an easy smile before Hunter blinked a couple of times as his eyes ran up and down my body, his eyes lingering over me for more than necessary making me blush since I was still uncomfortable with that kind of attention. Hunter had seemed to finally be able to drag his eyes away from my body because he was now looking at my face with a soft expression on his. I couldn't help but wish I could be able to fall for a guy like him, Patch's voice still echoed in the back of my head, reminding me that there was still a possibility of getting hurt. Shaking my head I chastised myself for thinking of him when I had Hunter in front of me.

"Hello." Hunter murmured softly, I couldn't help but notice how he had a nice voice, velvety yet coarse at the same time.

"Hi," my voice sounded breathless, even to me.

"Are you ready to go?" He took a step back and I headed out of the door, shutting it behind me.

"Sure," I paused as I realized that I still had no idea where we were going, "so are you going to tell me where we are headed to?"

"Now where would the fun in that be?" Hunter sent a wink my way as I climbed in the passenger seat before continuing. "It's a surprise after all."

I rolled my eyes at him which earned me a throaty chuckle, Hunter stepped on the gas and I found myself pressed against the leather seats, looking at the speed monitor I saw the arrow inch past ninety.

"Could you slow down?" I glanced nervously at Hunter before returning my eyes worriedly to the window, watching the trees as we hurtled past them at break neck speed.

"Relax will you, I'm not even going that fast," Hunter regarded me with amusement.

"May I remind you before it's too late that not all of us have the privilege of being immortal," I informed him.

"You know what I am?" Hunter was now looking at me with surprise painted across his features.  
"If you weren't mortal you would have been dead after the fight with Patch." I shrugged, figuring it was better to get my knowledge out in the open so he didn't have to feel like he had to hide it from me. "And you can't be Nephilium because you would have _really_ felt those hits."

"How much do you know?" He asked curiously. I knew pretty much everything, but I didn't really feel like going into the whole story about how I killed my descendant, nor how I was going to be used as a sacrifice so Patch could get a human body before he changed his mind.

"Enough." I replied, keeping my tone unconcerned and I was surprised to see Hunter tightening his hold over the steering wheel, the usually carefree expression he wore on his face had now gone cold, air hissed out from between his teeth, I blinked up at him in surprise.

"You were meant to stay out of this mess." I barley caught his words because he had muttered them so quietly that I was sure I wasn't meant to hear, Hunter shook himself before carefully returning his features to their normal expression, yet his smile didn't match his eyes which had a hunted look in their depths, I felt like he was putting on a mask, yet what for I did not know.

"You don't have to be fake you know." I blinked, surprised that the words had slipped my mouth, deciding I had already gone this far I might as well finish the sentence. "Not with me."

"You see right through everything don't you." I turned my head to look at Hunter in surprise, despite the feeling that I had known him before, the tone he was using was very unfamiliar to me, for some reason it was laced with desperation, and something else.

"That's not normally the case."

"And I'm an exception because?"

"I feel like I have known you before, everything about you is really familiar." I paused regretting that confession, it sounded even more weird now that I had said it out loud.

"Maybe that's because you have." Hunter said this so quietly I wasn't sure I heard him properly.

"What?" I breathed out.

"We knew each other once, it was a long time ago."  
"Then how come I cant remember you? I couldn't have forgotten you, especially when every moment I spend with you gives me a strong sense of a déja-vu."

Hunter sighted heavily. "That's another story for another time." I was about to protest and demand him to give me more information before he interrupted me. "We're here."

Distracted I looked out the window and couldn't stop the gasp that escaped my lips as I absorbed the scenery, we had arrived at the edge of a cliff that overlooked Portland, the lights against the sky were a beautiful sight and the evening sky was painted with golden colours, the air smelt clean and fresh with traces of the forest which surrounded us, I regretted not taking my camera because this would have made a great scenic photograph. I climbed out of the car slowly and looked all around me over and over again.

"It's really something huh?" Since I was still stunned into silence I bobbed my head up and down, Hunter shook his head at me. "Come on, lets grab something to eat." With that he strode over to the car and opened the boot, retrieving a basket of food and a picnic blanket, I stared at him, touched that he had thought to put in all the effort. He laid out the blanked on the hood of the car and sat himself down on it since the grass was too damp from the dew, following his example I made my legs move towards him and sat myself by his side, I hadn't realised how hungry I actually was until the smell of the food assaulted my senses.

"So you're a fallen angel _and_ you can cook." I eyed down the chicken wraps and cherry tarts to prove my point before grabbing a wrap and biting into it. Hunter chuckled nervously.

"Well actually I cant cook if my life depended on it, this was made by my room mate who is an amazing cook, me on the other hand? Let's just say I set the alarm off seven times while trying to make myself toast." I laughed at his grim expression as he recalled the memory.

"Remind me never to let you near a kettle." I chortled.

"You can just imagine how bad things would turn out if I go near a microwave" Hunter joked, although I swear I could almost detect a serious note in his tone.

"Why do you even own kitchen appliances though?" "Unlike myself, my room mate actually needs some form of nutrition to keep going."

"You're not living with another fallen angel?" This fact surprised me, fallen angels normally lived with their own kind, it was either that or a human because I found the possibility of him living with a Nephil highly unlikely.

"Nah, just a friend that I live with, you should meet her sometime."

"Her?" Somehow the fact that Hunter lived with another girl was also another fact that surprised me.

"What is this twenty questions?" Hunter glanced at my curiously.

"No, I Just want to find out more about you." I shrugged. Hunter was about to say something when a chilly gust of wind blew making me shiver despite my leather jacket being wrapped tightly around me, he frowned as he shook of his own and draped it over my shoulders. I dimly heard myself mutter my thanks, it was then that I realized that I still hadn't noticed what he was wearing, as I took him in I saw that he was wearing a pair of grey jeans and a elbow length shirt that fell loosely over his chest. I hugged the cotton jacket closer to my body and was enveloped in his scent which reminded me of the smell of pine and some heady type of cologne, we sat there in a comfortable silence as we took in the view which was slowly growing darker, his voice broke the stillness of the moment.

"What about you?" he murmured.

"What about me?"

"How did you stumble across the knowledge about my kind?"

"Well it was after I met Patch." I was going to leave it there but when I saw Hunters expression I quickly continued. "I don't think he was going to say anything about it to me, but when I accidentally touched his wing scars I got sucked into one of his memories, after that I found out he was going to use me as a sacrifice, things got a little hectic from then on, but I guess he found that coming clean about things would be the only thing to calm me down."

"What changed his mind?" Hunter's head was cocked to the side as he was separating out the information I had given him. "About the sacrifice I mean."

"That's another story for another time." I smirked as I repeated his comment from earlier, after all I didn't really think that this was the best time to be bringing in the past Patch and I shared, in fact I didn't even think I was ready to talk to anyone about that because of the hollow ache that dully thrummed out in my chest. Hunter rolled his eyes at me but didn't argue, since it was only fair after him already using that excuse, I would be an idiot to say Hunter had no secrets to hide, but then I couldn't judge because so did I.

We chatted aimlessly after that, it seemed hardly any time had passed since we arrived when the colour of the already dark sky told us otherwise, I noticed a shift in the air as it had become colder and I could see my own breath in front of me as it came out in misty puffs. It looked as though Hunter had noticed it as well because he was already packing up the left-over food and placing them back in the picnic basket. I helped him along with it, our hands would brush every now and then causing me to blush, yet he still didn't send out the electricity that was always on high when Patch was around, but the feeling I got when I was with Hunter was pleasant all the same.

I had just finished folding up the blankets and tucking them up in the boot when I felt a pair of arms wrap themselves around my waist, drawing me back closer to the owner, I shivered as I felt his breath tickle my ears. "I like being with you." He whispered, nipping my ear, I momentarily went stiff but then relaxed, it's not like I was in a relationship any more.

"Yeah, me too." I mumbled softly. I turned around only to be greeted with a pair of grey eye's that seemed to pierce my body, Hunter leaned forward slowly before pausing, giving me a chance to pull away, when I didn't he planted a soft kiss on my mouth. His lips pressing themselves into mine as he breathed out in contentment, he bit lightly on my lip before pulling away. I smiled at him, still a little surprised from the new development. Hunter grinned as he pulled me against him and tightened his hold, we stayed that way for a while, neither of us saying anything before we turned around and got into the car, leaving the tranquil scenery behind us. We held hands on the way back home, I glance approvingly at the speed monitor and saw he had reduced his driving speed. Hunter was focused on the road, he was easily guiding the car through the bends and turns with one hand, while his other traced patterns into my own, his sandy blonde hair was in an organised mess that would occasionally drop itself to far past his brows before he would send it back to the side with a sharp shake of his head, his lips were set in a line as he mulled something over in his head. Leaning back in my seat I sighed, thinking back on the day and smiling to myself.

All too soon he was pulling up in front of the farm house and I wanted nothing more than to start the day over again and relive every moment. I thanked him for the night and handed him back his jacket before heading up to the front door. I turned and watched him slide off of the drive and speed off down the road into the silent darkness. I went inside and straight upstairs into my room, pulling my jacket off as I went and tossing it on the bed. Pulling out my phone I was surprised to see nine missed calls and three very angry text messages from a private number that could only be Patch, I growled under my breath in frustration before tossing my phone on the bedside table. I decided I would deal with him tomorrow, the sight of my bed was compelling me to get some sleep and I forced myself to get away from it as I walked away to change into my pyjamas and to brush my teeth. Walking back into my room I heard my phone vibrate in a demanding manner, glancing over at it I noticed Patch was trying to get through to me once again. I pressed the reject button as I was in no mood to argue with him, tucking myself into the sheets I was asleep before my head hit the pillow.


	12. Explain Now

**Hello Guys!  
Thank you for all your support, you have been amazing readers for me. If I am having a bad day I always look to the comments and it just cheers me up.  
Apologies for the really late update (I know you have been waiting for this, so I made a really long chapter) Remember to keep commenting, I cannot put into words how much it means to me, anyway I have carried enough, read away!**

I frantically looked behind me as I forced my legs to move faster, my breath was coming in short ragged pants and the only thing that was stopping me from collapsing in fear was knowing I had to push the small auburn haired child in front of me to go quicker. Looking down at myself I realised I was shorter, and my hair was shoulder length, I shook this off because the realisation had oddly failed to disturb me as it should have. My heart sank in the realisation that we would never make it as I frantically looked around. We had nowhere to run and our only chance would be the woods, but no matter how fast we ran, we couldn't seem to make it any closer, the large clump of trees seemed to stubbornly stay the same distance away.

"I can't go any faster Nora, just let me go and hide yourself." I glanced over in panic as the girl whimpered beside me. My heart clenched at even the thought of letting her go, it was my duty to make sure nothing ever happened to her.  
"Shh." I soothed the child, tightening my grip on her little hand as I kept robotically moving my legs. "We are almost there." Looking up I was surprised to see the forest had finally grown closer, but my relief was short livid because looking behind me I saw four towering figures running after us.

"Nora, just let me go, you will be able to get away without me bring you down." The girl finally turned her face toward me and I caught my breath at the resemblance in our features, she had the exact same eye colour as me and our facial structure was also the same. The only difference was her skin was startlingly paler than mine and her height and body build was a lot finer and smaller, it was almost frail.

I didn't answer the girl, I only forced my already exhausted legs to propel themselves faster towards the forest, the broken breathing of the girl beside me told me that she wouldn't be able to last much longer. I knew I desperately needed a place to hide her and fast.  
My feet crunched against the dead leaves as I crashed through the forest, but I wasn't even in the thicket of it yet. The low hanging branches tore at my hair and scratched at my face but I didn't care, I only knew that I had to hide her and then suddenly thins nightmare wouldn't be so bad if I knew that she was safe.  
The sound of leaves crunching behind us alerted me that our pursuers had gotten closer. My feet had picked up speed with the sudden adrenaline rush, practically towing the child beside me as I did so. Despite the situation a feeling of calm suddenly washed over me and I could feel my breath getting more even, I spotted a large oak surrounded by shrubs, a large hollow in the middle of it. I propelled myself towards it, while twisting my arm around the girls waist I shoved her roughly towards the ground, nudging her with my foot so that she rolled towards the hollow and then without any hesitation I hurtled through the trees trying to put some distance between us, hoping that the trees masked my previous actions from the men behind me. The sounds behind me told me they were still oblivious to my actions, I prayed that the girl didn't choose to give herself away to try and protect me and ruin my plan, I already knew what I had to do.

I ran further for a few minutes before stopping as I waited for my followers to draw closer, my wrist throbbing painfully in anticipation. The forest suddenly went deathly silent apart from the thundering footsteps that were drawing closer, and even the trees seemed to have stopped quivering as they waited for the oncoming event.

I stood frozen, my feet planted firmly on the ground, everything in my body was screaming run but I ignored it, taking in every visible detail instead, committing the large aged trees, yellowing leaves on the ground and the rich brown soil to memory. My body started shaking as I gathered the power in myself letting it heat the core of my body until my chest felt uncomfortably hot, yet the knowledge that I might not survive this outburst didn't faze me as I thought back to the cause of my actions.  
Yes. The small child was defiantly worth the consequences, my chest tightened at the thought of any harm being inflicted on her.  
The footsteps were slowing down as they neared me, I knew they knew where I was as they closed in on me. Looking around I confirmed there were four of them, they had spread out in a circle as they stood looking slightly confused. I knew they weren't expecting me to be alone and knew the girl from before should have been next to me, I was glad I had left her behind at the hollow a good distance away. No one should have to witness this, well apart from the four figures anyway.

One of them cautiously took a step forward and that's when it all started.  
All the leaves on the forest floor suddenly flew up, rising a dozen meters as if they had been swept up by an invisible sheet before turning themselves into a giant ring, circling so fast you couldn't see them move. I let the leaves broaden themselves before making them fall into a perfect ring, forming an enclosure around us that looked like a solid wall due to the speed they were going, yet oddly enough it didn't make a single sound apart from the steady whooshing noise they made from the speed. Apart from that there was only an eerie silence.  
I smiled at the shocked expressions on their faces, allowing myself a moment to take in the fear of the atmosphere. If my stunt with the leaf enclosure shook them up I wondered how they would react to what I had in store. I couldn't help but gasp at the sharp pain which coursed throughout my body as I started my work on the trees. It was almost as if I were the trees and I could feel their pain as they started stretching out their long willowy limbs that looked strangely like tentacles as they wrapped themselves around one of the men, crushing his bones to millions of little pieces. He barely even had enough time to scream before I let out another burst of power that looked like a ball of blinding light that hurtled itself towards his corpse before burning it, the scene dimly reminded me of a fireworks show I had once seen with my parents.

The other three men that had silently been watching the scene unfold itself now regarded me with caution, they exchanged a look with each other before they began their first move, they surged as one towards me but I was ready, a root shot out and grabbed one firmly by the ankle before flicking backwards and smashing him into a tree, a guttural scream rung out through the woods, I couldn't help but flinch at the sound. However my moment of distraction caused me to feel a sharp pain on my side, looking down I saw a steady flow of blood now pouring out from my side from a bullet. I dimly noted that I hadn't even heard the shot ring out, my head started to spin and I knew I had to get this over and done with. Even if I died tonight there would be no survivors I vowed silently.

The power inside me was harder to summon through the pain but it was still there, just within my reach. I smiled slightly as I closed my eyes briefly and imagined a figure form itself in the dirt, sure enough when I opened it there was a large brown bear, its eyes glowing a bright grey. The same colour as mine.  
Funny, that had never happened before.

I commanded it to attack the man furthest away from me as it loped off to ram him into the ground. I knew when he bit into his stomach before I heard it, I could feel the wetness of the blood in my mouth, yet I knew it was only a reflection since the bear was a part of me. I winced as I felt a knife in my stomach yet I knew it hadn't been planted into mine, the bear let out a pained growl before finishing him with his claws. I rolled my eyes at the stab attempt, it wouldn't work because the bear was made out of dirt after all. I released my command on the animal and it soon returned to it's shapeless form on the ground, I would have liked to have finished the last man the same way but I didn't know if I had the strength to keep that up. I turned to the last man who surprisingly didn't have any fear in his eyes even though he surely knew what his fate would be.

His smile broadened as he took in my confusion at his attitude. I made a bunch of branches twist themselves around him, even though he could break free he chose not to, instead he let out a low chuckle at my expression  
"You know I'm going to kill you." I informed him, my voice deathly gentle with a touch of sadness, I didn't relish at the thought of killing people.  
"No you won't, you can't kill my kind, you will only exhaust yourself."  
"Your kind?" I already knew but I was letting him humour me.  
"Nephilim, I am assuming you have heard the term before?"  
"Indeed." I regarded him curiously, he seemed to know what I was but he was still seemingly oblivious to my abilities. "But the power I can produce_ will_ kill you." I assured him. "It's the only thing that can destroy an immortal." The man now regarded me with a new seriousness at the knowledge that after this he wasn't going to come back before letting out another chuckle. Yep. He was crazy  
"Well then I guess we will see each other on the other side pretty soon." He paused to give me a devilish wink, somehow the easy gesture seemed a lot more threatening than an aggressive approach ever would.  
"And what would ever make you say that." I didn't really want to be having this conversation but I was curious nevertheless.  
"He's coming." The man raised his eyebrow at me expectantly. "What? You didn't really think that the four of us were all you would get for tonight?"I ignored the last jibe.  
"Whose coming?"  
"Kaede." The name sent shivers down my spine. I knew I had to fear that name, but the reason as to why was just outside my reach, every time I tried to remember my skull felt like it was being stabbed by knives.

Snapping myself out of my day dream I returned to the task at hand, I needed to finish this, if Kaede was really on his way then I had to get out of here, with any luck he wouldn't be able to sense the auburn haired child and be too focused on tracking me and the time for putting distance between us was probably way past due. It would take a miracle for me to outrun anyone at this point because I was already exhausted after the amount of power I had used. I muttered a dark curse under my breath, wishing I had chosen to build up my stamina a bit more before this happened during training.

Casting one last look at the man who nodded as if accepting his fate, I winced as the roots of a tree snaked up and entangled themselves around his body, forming a thick cocoon, before they tightened and crushed him. An agonised scream echoed throughout the arena I had made, I summoned another burst of power and flung it at him, gagging at the smell of burning flesh.  
I sighed in relief as I released my borders and got ready to run before the sharp ache at my side reminded me of my wound, the already small chances of making an escape were now next to none. I sank to my knees with a heavy feeling in my stomach, I knew I would die some day but the knowledge of this really being it sent fearful tingles up my spine.  
My vision was dotted with black spots from the blood loss but I fought to stay conscious, if I was going to go down I might as well do it knowing I had done everything in my power to fight against it, but the flickering light on my wrist told me that I was a goner. My power wouldn't be able to last another fight.

I readied myself for another attack as the sound of footsteps crashing through the tress echoed out. I painfully forced myself to get up off my knees, groaning as my vision clouded . I blinked furiously to try and clear it up, my forehead has damp with sweat and my small hands were grimy with dirt, my heart thudded erratically and I was almost positive that the whole forest could probably hear it. I was centering my last burst of power as a desperate attempt of a defence from my attacker, grimacing at the thought of the possibility of passing out after the release.

The figure broke out from the tree's and I couldn't keep my shock away as I gaped at the man in front of me, he looked exactly the same as I had last seen him, if not taller, the only thing that was different about him was the panicked look in his eye when he caught sight of my small frame, his expression was painted with dread as he looked at my state.  
"Hunter." I choked out, my eyes widening as he came closer yet I didn't regard him as a threat. His presence alone calmed me down, yet my presence obviously had the reverse effect on him.  
"Oh God, I'm so sorry." I cocked my head curiously at him as he fumbled around with his words. "Its all my fault, I never meant to get you into this mess, but don't worry you'll get out if I have anything to say about it."  
"Wha-t d-do you mean?"  
"Listen carefully." He looked at me seriously. "I need you to run, I'll run with you but when he gets to close I am going to have to leave you, but you're going to keep running and no matter what you're not going to pass out, do you hear me? You're going to stay conscious."  
"B-but what ab-"I never got to finish the sentence because he cut me off.  
"Summer is going to be fine, I already set her on her way, but she is going somewhere else. Summer; so that was the name of the little girl. I almost smiled at how well it suited her. I was about to protest but he shook his head at me before continuing. "When the time comes for us to spilt you will run until you find a cave, it's sealed with my angel powers, so no one apart from me and you will be able to sense it, you will know what it is when you get there, and here is the most important part-"  
His next sentence was cut off because suddenly we were sprinting through the forest, well he was sprinting and I was being carried his arms with my legs wrapped around him and my head nestled in his shoulder, looking up I saw the trees fly past but I didn't see anyone following us. Yet.

We probably covered just over eight kilometres before Hunter started slowing down and coming to a halt. He gently put me down on my two feet while steadying me to make sure I didn't come crashing down, he looked at me with pity clear on his features, which confused me more. He lowered himself until he was on one knee to be eye level with me, he reached out and gently grasped my wrist while turning it over until my splattered raindrop birthmark was face up, he gently traced the outline, frowning at it while it continued altering between the luminescent glow and my normal skin colour.

"Nora, I need you to do two things for me, but you would need to be a very brave girl for those things to happen, do you think you would be able to do that for me sweetie?" I opened my mouth to speak, but no words escaped my mouth. I opened and closed my mouth for several moments before I decided to do a small nod.  
"Good, firstly I want you to promise me that no matter what you hear, you won't come back, you will stay at the cave, it's straight ahead, no matter what you hear you won't come back to try and help me. You will need to keep in mind that I am an immortal, but unlike Nephilim I can't be killed that way. I also won't be able to feel a thing, but just in case you hear anything I need you stay very, very quiet and whatever happens don't leave, they can't touch you there, can you do that for me?" I nodded again, never breaking eye contact with Hunter. His hand was still wrapped around my wrist while he gazed at me. I waited for him to continue with the second thing. "The other thing I want you to do for me is something that I can't ask from anyone else, only you can do this for me, I need you to brand me right here." he paused to lift his white shirt while tapping on a spot on the left side of his pelvis with his second finger.  
"Wh-what do you mean?" I was sure I heard him wrong; he wanted me to brand him? Surely not. Hunter smiled gently.  
"You see that mark on your wrist? Well I want you to use a small amount of power to make it shine as bright as you can get it, your wrist is going to feel a little hot." he paused at my fearful expression before quickly reassuring me. "It won't hurt much, just a little. After you have gotten it to glow I want you to bring your wrist over and press it to the spot I showed you, that mark will stay with me as long as you're alive, it will also make a very special connection between us that will let me know your okay when I am very far away."A strange ripping sound started sounding out, with a start I realised it was me. I felt something hot and wet trail down my cheeks and drip down my chin. Hunter soothed me by rubbing patterns in my back, I vaguely heard him mutter comforting words into my ear before stepping back and looking at me expectantly.  
With a start I realised what he was waiting for. I sighed as I brought back the heat to my wrist while concentrating to make sure it didn't flicker. I paused when my hand was an inch away from his pelvis. "Will it hurt?" I murmured softly. Hunters eyes softened when he looked at me. "I won't feel a thing." He leaned forward to kiss the top of my head. "I promise. Oh and before I forget, I want you to have this." He untied a woven leather bracelet from his wrist and handed it to me, he let out a grin at my dumbstruck expression. "Think of it as a lucky charm." Hunter winked and then nodded at me to continue.  
With that last reassurance I pressed my wrist to his pelvis, the contact caused us both to jump as I felt a current of electricity run up my body. I was suddenly more aware of Hunter's presence like I had never been before, my senses sharpened and I felt lighter, the pain in my side had suddenly eased significantly. Looking at Hunter I saw I left a mark identical to the one on my wrist, except his glowed a light blue briefly before turning to a colour that was three shades lighter than his skin. We both gaped at the mark for several moment before he seemed to have gathered himself and had now gotten back up to his feet, his head tilted behind him while mouthing the word 'go'.

Remembering back to the promise I made him I broke out into a jog. I had only jogged for several meters before turning around and noticing he was gone. Shrugging I sped up as I continued through the trees, I somehow knew where I was going because I felt a pull towards the cave he had spoken about. His presence drawing me forward, I had just about reached the cave beside a small running stream before I heard the first scream, recognising it as Hunter's I whipped around getting ready to run towards him, all memory of the promise I had made him gone from my head. I was just about to bolt out of the cave when an invisible force pushed me back, after a few tries I realised Hunter must have used his power to form an invisible wall to prevent me from leaving because he must have predicted something like this happening. Irritated I began to pace the cave, I could feel ripples in the air that alerted me that someone was using power that was not unlike mine. Someone beside me.

Letting out a frustrated growl I tried to break Hunter's barricade with my own aura, but I had no such luck. I was sure I would be able to break free if I hadn't grown so weak before, but given my current state I knew that my attempts to break free would be fertile, with a frustrated sigh I sank to the floor and leaned against a cold rock and let sleep have me.  
I had barley closed my eyes for what seemed a couple of moments before I felt someone shake me awake, peeling one eye open I shot up at the sight of Hunter, I gasped as I took him in. There were claw marks running up and down his torso as if a pack of wild animals had ravaged him and one leg was bleeding badly, he was completely covered in dirt and blood, his normally larger than life frame was shaking from exhaustion. I moved closer to him, wrapping my small arms around him while a small whimper escaped my lips. I was scared.  
"It's okay." I heard him wheeze out. "Remember I can't feel anything, and thank God for that too, otherwise I would have blown the whole thing more than I already have." Several moments seemed to have passed before he had gotten himself together, I was startled when I felt both his hands move to my temple. He was gazing at me intently and he kept on repeating apologies to me over and over again. I felt an odd heat inside my brain that didn't belong there, I recognised his presence and tensed when I realised what was happening but it was already too late. I saw images rush past in a blur in front of my eyes, it reminded me of a broken tape being played backwards, I saw familiar faces mixed in the images but they were gone before I could recognise them, and then suddenly the whole world went black.

I gasped as I sat up, my breathing was frantic as I took in my surroundings. I breathed a sigh of relief as I took in my surroundings and realised where I was, the familiar white bedside draw beside my mattress, the dreamy lavender walls and the white desk in the corner. I calmed myself down while reminding myself it was just a dream before I stopped.  
Wait. Was it?

I shot up out of bed while quickly flicking on the switch of the lamp beside my bedside table; I padded over to my wardrobe and rummaged around for several moments before I found what I was looking for. Taking my jewellery box out, I yanked the lid open and pawed through the rings and necklaces in various compartments before I froze. There, beside all my silver wear was a woven leather bracelet that I recognised from my dream, I knew I hadn't bought it because I had no memory of the purchase and it wouldn't be the type of thing I would buy in a jewellery store.  
This could only mean one thing.

Checking the alarm clock I groaned in frustration, it was only five. Hastily tying the bracelet around my wrist I threw on a pair of black jeans and a floral print shirt, by the time I finished yanking a brush through my hair and applying my make-up two hours had passed, grabbing my phone of the charger I speed dialled Vee's number, she picked up on the third ring.  
"Hello?" Her voice was thick with sleep, but in my current mood I didn't really care.  
"Vee? How soon can you get to my house?"  
"Half an hour, wait maybe multiply that by two, my head is killing me."  
"I need you to be here in twenty." There were several beats of silence.  
"Whoa, what happened to you?" Even though she was sleepy I sensed that her curiosity was giving her a wakeup call.  
"I'll explain later, just be there." I pressed the end button, I knew she would be furious at being hung up on yet I was in no mood right now, I felt furious myself as I pieced it all together. I could normally recall my childhood years, but there was a large year gap from when I was twelve years old that my memories just faded out, every time I asked mom about it I remember getting vague answers, my dad hadn't been much better when he was alive either.  
I had eventually given up and accepted that maybe that year had been so uneventful that my brain had chosen to erase it from its data base. I slapped myself in the face, how naïve was I?

I heard Vee pull up on my drive way and a ran downstairs taking two steps at a time, my mom was in the kitchen wearing her favourite pink dressing gown. She turned around and was about to say something but her words died in her mouth as she took in my expression. I breezed past her and I yanked the front door open, she had lied to me too, I would deal with that later, but I was getting answers from someone else  
first.

I jumped into the Neon muttering under my breath, Vee's mouth dropped open as she assessed my expression. The drive to school was silent because I had viciously cut down any attempt at conversation which had resulted in Vee alternating between casting worried glances at me and the road which was wet with rain. I bounced impatiently in my seat wondering why everyone had been lying to me, any other day I would have shaken the dream off as an event that had happened inside my head but that would be leaving out the fact that it felt too real, not to mention the bracelet and the familiar sensation of having my head messed with as I had come to experience with my oh so kind descendant, not to mention the coincidence of me experiencing déjà- vu every time I was with Hunter and not remembering an entire year of my life.

I rammed my fist into the dash board in frustration causing Vee to yelp in surprise, why was it that every time I put trust in a single person, there would always be that skeleton in the closet that would bring my life crashing down?  
Vee pulled over in the school parking lot. "Do you feel like explaining anything to your best friend who drove you to school and nearly had her dash board smashed?"  
"PMS?" I replied shortly before darting out of the car and making my way towards the school building before I could get asked more questions which I had no intentions of answering. On my way towards Hunters normal hangout behind the bleachers I bumped into Marcie coming out of the men's restroom, her blond hair slightly messed and her lip gloss smudged, her mouth automatically raised itself into a sneer, I couldn't help but wish her face would stay that way.  
I was going to ignore her presence but then she purposely bumped my shoulder. "And the bitch has a dick." I muttered under my breath, not quietly enough because apparently she heard it.  
"Please, dick talk doesn't count if it comes from a virgin." She sneered.  
"Coming from someone that has had too many of them to count." I snapped back.  
Marcie took a step closer to me. "No one ever talks to me like that, in fact I would learn some respect if I were you."  
"Or what?"  
"Or you better watch your back," Marcie's eyes had narrowed into slits, I briefly wondered if she could even see.  
"Well I would return that comment, except we both know you already know where your back is considering the amount of time you spend on it."  
And with that last comment I whirled around and marched around the corner. I made a break for the bleachers, Hunter must have sensed my presence because he turned around with an easy smile on his face which died instantly when he took in my stormy expression. I didn't say a word to him as I marched up to him and punched him in the face as hard as I could. Violence was not normally my first resort but right now all I felt was anger at the person who had erased an entire year from my life. I grew even more annoyed when all I got out of that if a few blinks of confusion.  
"What's wrong with yo-" his next sentence was cut off when I yanked his black tee-shirt up to expose the raindrop mark on the left side of his pelvis, the mark that was identical to mine. I looked up at him with fury burning in my eyes, I raised my wrist and pointed to the woven bracelet, Hunters eyes popped with shock as he pieced together my actions. "I can-" He began.  
"Explain." I growled, taking a threatening step towards him. "Now."


	13. Research

**Hope everyone had a great New Year!**  
**Okay I know no one is to impressed with my timing but as an excuse it was the holidays, okay that's still a bad excuse so shoot me..**  
**However as an apology I decided to treat you to two chapters.**  
**Congratulations to those who figured out the girl in the dream was in fact...nah I am not going to spoil this for you ;)**  
**Hope you enjoy and please keep reviewing! **

**Patch's POV**

"Ugh you are so not fun," Marcie huffed as she slid back into her seat, I ground my teeth in frustration at her, repeatedly reminding myself that I was only doing this because of the order that was issued by the archangels to protect her, although why anyone would ever want to get too close within the one hundred metre radius within the girl would remain a forever unsolved mystery. But despite my tolerance of Marcie, I had to grudgingly admit she might have had a point, ever since the fight on the rooftop I had fallen into a foul mood, and being within my company was not bound to be a pleasant trip.

"We have arrived," I said smoothly as I pulled up her curb, I watched as her hand slowly made its way towards the door handle, repressing the urge to hurl her out of the car myself because she couldn't seem to get out of there fast enough, annoyance rose up in my throat when she stopped half way before turning around towards me again causing me to work hard to keep my impassive mask up.  
"I just got a great idea," I winced at her high pitched tone, thanking the big man in the clouds himself for not letting me experience mundane things such as headaches because I was pretty sure I would have a migraine by now.  
"Do tell," I stated dully, deciding I would let her humour me.  
"My parents are leaving for a business trip later, and I don't want to stay in that house all alone, I mean last time I did something like that half the football team wouldn't leave me alone for the whole week," Marcie finished, her tone filled with innocence.  
"So what are you suggesting?" I knew I was playing dumb, and I also knew where this conversation was heading, however I knew it would be unwise to volunteer myself to the task given the current state of my to-do list, coddling Marcie was at rock bottom, with or without the guardian order.  
"I was thinking I needed a babysitter," Marcie said seductively, sending me a suggestive wink. "Great, phonebook is in the compartment in front of you, I'll see what I can find."  
"Patch," Marcie whined in a shill voice, "I'm sure you know what I mean..." she trailed her French manicured fingernails slowly up his chest to punctuate her point, knowing this won't end well I put my hand over hers to stop the progress of her hand before guiding it back to her lap.  
"I'll think about it," I kept my voice firm saying that she wouldn't get a better deal than that, but apparently I didn't have to worry because Marcie grinned at me with a confident glint in her eye no doubt interpreting my answer as a positive response, I couldn't help but breathe a sigh of relief when I heard the car door close, wasting no time to start my engine and peel out of the curb.

Finally alone with my thoughts my mind wandered back to the rooftop scene, the way that Nora so readily jumped to defend Hunter burning into my mind, I tightened my grip on the steering wheel when I recalled that they would have had their date already causing my heart to tighten painfully.  
Smashing my fist in the dashboard I was frustrated when I didn't feel any pain, only a small red ribbon of blood trailing down my second knuckle and a now necessary trip to the mechanics after my hit caused the whole dashboard to cave in like melted plastic served as evidence of my hit ever occurring.

It wasn't meant to turn out this way, I was meant to serve my sentence with Marcie out before returning to Nora, but this had now been complicated by an entry of a certain fallen angel who was after the girl I already staked my claim on, the very thought of him brushing a finger on her had me working hard not to twist off the steering wheel, I always went with my gut instinct and right now it was telling me that if I didn't move fast I would lose Nora, yet it was also telling me that there was a lot more to Hunter than he was letting off, even at the first encountered he practically reeked of secrecy and deception, however I knew that I wouldn't share this information with the person that mattered because that would only result in heavy scrutiny, and making her dream the memory through my point of view would be impossible if not highly difficult because I had been trying to gain access to her dreams for two weeks now, and every single night I would be blocked by her barrier, and every time I thought I was in the verge of breaking through it, it would only stretch itself out and entangle itself around her again.

I hadn't been thinking about where I was driving yet I had already pulled up at a very familiar white farmhouse with blue shutters, the whole house was dark and even before I reached out with my senses I already knew everyone was asleep, getting out of the jeep I lightly made my way across the gravel road towards the porch, taking care to muffle the crunching of the rocks beneath my feet. After picking the lock open I slid through the front door and quietly made my way upstairs, avoiding the creaky step that would always groan loudly when you landed your foot on it.  
After what seemed years I finally made it up to her room, nudging the door open I silently closed in the space between us as I strode over to her bed.

The mere sight of her had an instant soothing effect on me, I knew my breathing calmed down because the rapid movement in my chest had ceased. I had urgently needed to talk with her before but the carefree look on her face stopped me, I smiled gently wondering what was causing her to sleep with a content grin on her lips, her hair was strewn around her in an auburn halo and I stood here mesmerised for a few moment while marvelling at how her thick lashes brushed her cheeks, or the smooth and how almost dreamlike her skin looked in the velvety darkness, before I could stop myself my hand had gently stroked her cheek causing her to shiver before letting out a soft sight and leaning into my touch.

I smiled knowingly as I watched her breath in another deep sigh, I silently promised myself that would see the sight in front of me many more times in the future, in fact after all this was over I would take her somewhere very far away, be dammed with what the archangels wanted.  
The very idea of taking care of her stirred warm emotions deep within my chest, the girl in front of me was my whole world and it would be a very cold day in hell before anything happened to take her away from me.

With my resolve firmly in my mind I quietly rose and was about to leave my room when a bright flicker stopped me in my tracks, I slowly turned around expecting Nora to be awake because of the sudden light that had been turned on behind me already thinking up of an explanation.  
My breath caught when I realised that the light had not been turned on, instead the mark on her wrist was doing a better job with the lighting than the lamp beside her could ever hope to do, the carefree look on Nora's face was now replaced with a frustrated frown.

I backtracked my movements back to the bed as I observed her sleep, the glowing mark on her wrist causing my heart to freeze. So this was the secret that she had so desperately tried to keep from me, but why? And more important what was it that had her so scared that she thought she had no one to turn to?  
I watched the already bright mark flare up until it was completely lighting the room, I wasn't too sure what made me do it but acting on impulse I reached out to touch her glowing birthmark before I was sucked into the deep labyrinth of her mind.

I landed on my feet with a soft thud, looking around me I saw the Nora was running past me, only this was a much younger version of her that looked to be around twelve years old, and beside her was a younger yet little girl who bore similar features.  
I knew that they didn't see me because neither of them spared me glance as they ran past, I trailed behind a small distance as I watched the scene unfold itself in front of me, Nora shoved the small child to the ground as she gently shoved her with her foot, I watched the child crawl towards a hollow in the tree in confusion before I understood.  
They were being pursed.

I had to pick up my pace to keep up with a very frantic Nora as she crashed through the trees, her eyes were wide with fear, we hadn't been running for long until she stopped, I my fear for her was soon replaced with surprisement as I watched her take down four fully grown Nephilum, I had once seen someone else the same type of power before only I couldn't put a face to the action, shaking it off I returned to observing the scene unfold in front of me.  
She was weak and I could see that, I would have given anything to help her, but I knew since I was in what seemed a memory my actions would be fertile.  
The sound of approaching footsteps alerted me that someone was on their way, my heart in realisation that she wouldn't be able to take anyone one else in this state, she was down on her knees and her breathing was heavy, coming out in painful pants, she seemed to realise that someone was coming as well because she forced herself up, I felt a brief flare of pride that she wasn't going to back down, however that pride was replaced with desperation at the knowledge that she was going to over exert herself more than she already had.

Working hard to remind myself this was a mere memory I practiced breathing slowly, but all breath rushed out of my lungs when I saw who it was that crashed through the trees, my jaw dropped open with shock as I gaped at the fallen angel in front of me.

Hunter quickly approached Nora while frantically attempting to calm the panicking twelve year old, it was obvious from the body language that she didn't regard him as a threat, as much as I wanted to stay in the in the dream I forced myself to get out, I didn't want to risk being around when Nora was woke up and I needed proper answers that I knew the dream wouldn't get me.

Opening my eyes I was back in Nora's room, looking over at her my heart clenched at the tense form, whatever was going on in her head was obviously causing her a lot of discomfort, allowing myself to give her a final kiss on the forehead I turned around to leave before I changed my mind, I shook my head at myself while returning to the task at hand.

Relocking the front door I briskly jogged to my jeep, turning the key in the ignition I kept my lights off until I was safely out of sight of the farm house, stepping on the gas I sped down to Bo's Arcade intending to do abit of research.  
Pulling up in the dirty parking lot I barged in through the door, the bouncer who had risen from his seat only to sit back down at the sight of me knowing it would be a waste of time to go through the formalities since I was a regular.  
I let myself in through the double doors, pushing through the group of men I nodded at Dabria to finish up while continuing down until the end of the room, the scrapping of chairs alerted me that I had a follower, opening a new set of doors I held them open until Dabria was through, nodding to the unimpressed group I shut the door.

"What can I do for you today Patch?" Dabria purred as she draped herself over a velvet couch.  
"I need to do some digging, see if we can find abit of dirt if you know what I mean." I raised my eyebrow challengingly.  
"So what's the topic?"  
"Does the name Hunter Jones ring a bell?" I knew immediately that it had in fact because of how Dabria's eye's had widened before she had managed to compose her features back to an indifferent mask.  
"Not really." Dabria replied, but she still had a troubled glint in her eye  
"Dabria," I made the warning clear in my voice, my patience had ended.  
"Look Patch, I was being honest, I really don't know much about Hunter because for some reason ever since he requested a lower rank from his original position they kept everything confidential,"  
"So what do you know?" What Dabria just told me confused me because it didn't make sense for someone to ask to be lowered from the post of being an archangel? In heaven it was the most desired role to be within the high rankers, so what would make Hunter think otherwise? And why did the archangels insist on keeping the case secret? I shook my head at the questions that had began swimming in my head, right now I needed to concentrate on any answers I could get.  
"Seventeen years ago Hunter started bringing up the benefits of being a guardian among the archangels, then when it was mid June he suddenly called a meeting and apparently demanded to be moved down to being a guardian, the details of the meeting were kept fully confidential so no one apart from an archangels aware off the exact details that went on in that room.  
"So why did he fall?" After hearing of Hunters determination to be moved down from an archangel it didn't make sense for him to throw it away.  
"No one knows, just after the meeting he was sent to earth, but he hasn't made a return to heaven.  
Dabria frowned as she finished the sentence, it was well known that it causes an angel pain if they are away from heaven for too long, the thought of an angel staying away from heaven for a year and having their wings is unheard of.

I left Dabria shortly after that, the visit had left me more frustrated and confused than I was before, I had a never ending circle of unanswered questions going around in my head, but one thing was for certain; Hunter Jones was going to slip up, and when that time came I would seize the chance to take him as far away from Nora as possible.

**And the plot gets thicker ;)**  
**What do you guys think? Team Patch or Team Hunter?  
Alright I have said enough for the week, carry onto the next page**


	14. The truth

Nora's Pov

"Well? I demanded? "I am still waiting for an explanation."  
Hunter sighed warily while running his fingers through the silky threads of his dirty blonde hair, "we can't talk here Nora, I can't risk anyone over hearing what I am about to tell you."  
I raised my brow at him "everyone is in class, I don't think you could find a better moment to discuss confidential matters," I thought for a second before adding "and don't tell me that we are going to talk about this later because an explanation is way past due and I'm sick and tired of having people keep things from me."  
Hunter seemed to deliberate for a moment before giving in "fine," he breathed out, "but at least let's take this somewhere else."

Seeing that there was no way I could get him to open up to me on school grounds I reluctantly agreed, although I slightly regretted my choice when we pulled up along a deserted lake fifteen minutes later, it also made me wonder why exactly he would choose a lake out of all places to talk, shivering slightly I wrapped my arms around myself defensively before following him up to a pathway that turned to lead up to a lookout on top of a cliff, I swallowed hard while pushing away the images of suddenly ending up on the bottom of that cliff, yet Hunters sad smile had me wallowing in guilt at such thoughts, he wouldn't do that to me, would he?  
Deciding there was only one way to find out I swallowed my doubt and confidently marched up beside him, sitting down cross-legged I waited for him to start.

"I don't even know where to begin with this." He stated weakly.  
"Just start from the bits that matter," I replied, softening my tone to try and relax him, scooting over I did something I would have not done under normal circumstances, I laid my head into his lap as a sign of my trust, it seemed to work because I felt him relax and settle into running his fingers through my hair.

A few moments had passed and I was getting worried that he would continue sitting in silence when he broke into story telling mode."Long ago a small village on the outskirts of Rome got raided by a passing group of robbers, the towns people were defenceless because they never had to deal with anything past a stray coyote before, the lack of defence they had meant they were powerless to do anything. They got completely cleansed of all their valuables, their houses burned and a large number of the villages got slaughtered."  
"What does this have to do with me?" I interrupted, still not seeing the bigger picture.  
"Patience, I'm going to get there," Hunter chuckled before continuing, "the survivors were too far away from any civilisation to seek help with the few horses they had gone, they were then forced to live off the now unfertile land, they struggled to survive, but they made do with digging for roots from the surrounding plants, eventually when they ran out of that they gathered any belongings they managed to salvage and moved into the forest. Among the surviving members there was a certain boy called Justius, he was out hunting one day when he saw an injured jaguar, he could have killed the animal for food but he decided to try and heal it despite the dangers. Each day he would bring the jaguar a little water and sometimes a scrap of meat from one of his own meals despite the hunger that raged within him, and each day he would become more connected with nature as he was fulfilling Gods role as a caretaker for the earth. The jaguar eventually left when it was fit to fend for itself again, but God didn't let Justius's actions go by unrewarded after seeing the compassion for nature that mankind could show, he became the first Aurous, time passed and eventually some of the villagers inherited the gift before passing it off to their offspring."  
"That's a very nice story," I told him irritably, "but I still don't get it, and what is an Aurous?"  
"An Aurous is a human being that has been gifted with an ability to channel nature, the best way I can describe it is that you can manipulate not only an element but you can work with what's in here," Hunter put his hand on my chest, "your inner energy," he finished.  
"Okay so I can make roots move in the ground, as great as that it is I have to tell you I still can't connect it to how you are connected to my past."

Hunter stayed silent for a few minutes, we stayed that way while he absentmindedly played with my hair, I was starting to think that he wasn't going to continue past this when he opened his mouth to speak again.  
"Your mother comes from a long line of very powerful Aurous's, the line ended many years ago when the last Aurous returned their power to the earth and performed a ritual to lock the ability for the future generations to avoid getting hunted down," he put his finger to his lips before I could interrupt him with a serious of questions, "I'll get to the reason of why your race died down later, but right now we are focusing on the need to know details only; agreed?" When I grudgingly nodded he let himself give me a grin before resuming "keep in mind that Aurous's are humans with gifts that were given from above, so it would only be natural for the archangels to keep watch on the descendants in case a change occurs."  
It was clear from Hunters gaze that he expected me to grasp the story but I wasn't too keen on letting him finish just yet.  
"So the archangels have been keeping a watch on me and my family?"  
"Yes, but your birth in particular caused a stir up in heaven." Hunter winked at me, "we all knew you were trouble from the minute you opened your baby blues."  
"Why me in particular?" I ignored his last comment.  
"Keep in mind that your race has only ever been human, yet your father being a Nephil means you now have angel blood in you, making you the first cross breed to ever live."  
"You're making me sounds like a dog," I mutter.  
"Nora you are missing the big picture here! You have the ability to become the most powerful being on this earth, your genes give you the power that could even defeat a fallen angel!"  
"Are you sure you should be telling me this?" I wink up at him.

A cold breeze blew across the cliff making me shiver, Hunter noticing my discomfort shrugged off his jersey before handing it to me.  
"Hunter," I inquire, curiosity getting the better of me, "why do I remember you?"  
Hunter sighs, "well as I said your presence stirred a rift up in heaven, and since your just so unique we couldn't leave you unguarded, I was your guardian for a while but after some complications arose it wasn't safe for you to be around me without being tracked, so I had to erase you mother's memory of a few events happening and had to do the same to you, but I couldn't leave without securing a way to make sure I could keep tabs on you and your wellbeing, I kept on feeling something odd for the past year and then you could imagine my shock to come back and see another fallen angel following your footsteps."  
"Why did you come back?" I asked quietly.  
"Why is there a fallen angel around you?" he returned.  
Now it was my turn to sigh, he was being difficult and he knew it, "you tell me and I'll tell you?" I compromised.  
"I had to make sure you were okay, besides it doesn't matter if I'm getting tracked or not, your turn." He grimaced half way through the sentence.  
"Patch and I were kind of dating," I giggled at Hunter's awe struck expression, he opened and closed his mouth several times before I reached out and gently closed his mouth by raising his chin.  
"Nora that's very dangerous!" Hunter scolded, "he could have been using you as a sacrifice, your half Nep-"  
"Half Nephil I know, and funny you should mention that because that was his original intention," I admitted before putting my finger on my lips like he had done before to me to stop an outburst, "but I owe him my life because he saved my life from one of my Nephil descendants who was out on a quest for revenge."  
Hunter muttered a string of curse under his breath angrily, "care to elaborate?" he finally asked.  
"It's a long story," I huffed, Hunter seemed to get the hint that I wasn't willing to discuss any further so he left it, we lay there for several moments before he got up and dusted his jeans and grabbing my hand to hoist me up, he chuckled at my confused expression, "school will end soon," he informed me gently.

Oh my God! I complete forgot! I was so dead when I got home if the teachers noticed my absence and made a note of it, checking my watch I gasped when I noticed that the bell for the end of the day would have rung, taking out my phone I called Vee to ask her to wait back for me only to get to her voice mail, sighing I had a sinking feeling that I would have to find my way home on my own today, and the weather didn't have me being to thrilled about walking out in the cold.  
Hunter seemed to have noticed that I was having an inner panic "do you want a lift home?" he asked raising an eyebrow at me.  
"That would be good thanks," I replied sheepishly.

The ride home was mostly quiet; Hunter pulled a disc out of one of the car compartments.  
"Breaking Benjamin?" I asked raising an eyebrow at him.  
"You know them?" He asked in surprise  
"Yeah I used to have to listen to them while Vee drove me to school." I explained, "She used to be obsessed with his music."  
"That's the blonde you hang out with?"  
"Yup that would be her."  
Hunter snorted, I gave him a side look while questioning his sanity, "I figured she would be more of a Taylor Swift type of girl," Hunter said.  
"Anything wrong with Taylor Swift?" I asked.  
"Nothings wrong with her, I even have one of her discs,"  
"Right," I agreed rolling my eyes, I somehow couldn't imagine Hunter cranking up 'Love story' while driving over to the local store.  
"No I do!" Hunter's eyes glinted as he pulled out the CD to prove it; he ejected the previous disc and began singing along to the first track.  
"Why didn't I have you pinned down as the country music type of guy?" I asked.  
Hunter grimaced, "eh well about that," he hedged.  
"What about what?" I asked  
"I'm not her greatest fan," he took a deep breath before carefully continuing, "but your other half adores her."  
"My other half?" I asked still not getting it.  
"Your sister."Hunter  
"Come again," I was sure I heard wrong.  
"Well when I left I had to erase your memory of ever having a sister for safety reasons, and ever since we came back she has been badgering to meet you, but because she is…unwell right now and can't come to school I think it would be a great idea for you two to meet up this Saturday," seeing my dazed expression Hunter quickly filled in, "look I know this must be a lot to take in so if you don't think you can handle it at the moment then I could give you more time to figure yourself out and when you are ready then you two could reunite."  
"No I'll come." I meant for it to sound firm but it barely came out in a whisper, my head was spinning, I had a sister? Yes I knew there was something about that girl in the dream but she was_ here_, and she had been waiting to meet me this whole time? Suddenly a wave of anger washed over me, I was suddenly furious at Hunter for taking the memories of her away from me, how dare he do something like that to me! And to her!

"Nora, are you okay?" His worried voice only fuelled my anger.  
"Why did you do it?" My voice was quiet, but it was clear I was angry from all the venom in my tone.  
"I'm not following Nora."  
"Erase my memory, take her away from me, and god knows what else."  
"Nora you have been through so much today, I will explain everything to you I promise, but right now I think I have already overloaded you with information, let's be reasonable and take it step by step."  
"Hunter Jones!" He flinched at my tone and my sudden raise in volume, "you will tell me right now."  
"Nora," Hunter reasoned, "I have already told you that you are one of the last remaining Aurous's on earth, you have a long lost sister _and_ that you have been constantly monitored by the archangels since birth, I think it's enough for today."  
"I deserve to know."  
"In time you will, but now today." I sat back with a huff, Hunters tone said he wasn't negotiating, but a small part of me was glad, I needed time to figure myself out and to deal with what I was told today.  
"How much are you holding back from me?" I asked, when he was silent I pouted, "come on Hunt, you can at least give me that," I pleaded.  
"You look cute when you pout." Hunter grinned over to me.  
"Nice try, but I still want an answer."  
Now it was Hunters turn to pout, "can you resist this face?" he asked.  
No. "Yes I can," I lied.  
"If only you knew..." Hunter trailed off.  
"That bad?"  
"You don't even know the start of it."

We had pulled over to the farmhouse, the lights were on meaning mum was home early from her trip, I groaned while trying to quickly think of an excuse, Hunters voice broke my train of thoughts.  
"Can you do me a favour?"  
"Depends on what it is," I said carefully.  
"Don't mention anything I said to you to your mom; remember that her memories are gone too."

That seemed pretty fair, it was a huge shock for me so there was no need to bring up the same emotions to my mother, paying the bills were getting hard enough without having to deal with this too, I agreed to his request before getting out of the car, I was about to walk to the house when I turned around just as Hunter started up his engine, I walked back to the car, he rolled his window down for me and I leaned through it.

"One more question." I warned him.  
"Okay shoot," He chuckled.  
"If you're meant to be my guardian and such," I paused, "then why did you lose your wings?"  
Hunter grinned at me like I was missing something; something big.  
"I will let you in on a little secret Nora," he became me closer until his breath tickled my ear; he nipped at it before whispering "I never fell."  
And with that he fish tailed around before speeding down the drive.

I groaned, I thought my life was confusing enough when Patch had entered it but Hunter took confusing to a whole new level, I stopped before deliberating what he just said, if he never fell…then that would mean he was still an angel! I gasped, meaning he could still feel everything, and if my memory severed me right he would have felt everyone of those hits Patch gave out, but more importantly he felt every touch we had shared, unlocking the door I was still lost in my thoughts when I was hit with the most tantalising smell of food coming from the kitchen, guess mom finally got sick of microwave meals too, I headed up to my room while dropping my bag and retrieving my books, I knew I  
had lots of catching up to do since I missed a day of school while hanging out with Hunter.

"Smells good mom, what are yo-"I froze as I took in the sight in front of me in shock, I tried to talk several times but words didn't come out, I pinched myself to make sure I wasn't dreaming, finally the figure at the bench swung around with a mischievous glint in his dark eyes, his lips came up in a crooked smile and I finally manage to choke a word out.

"Patch?"


	15. It's a sleepover

"What are you doing here?" I demanded after a couple of moments of opening and closing my mouth like a fish out of water at the sight of Patch fanning the oven with a towel like it was no big deal that he was in my kitchen uninvited. After an exhausting day out with Hunter I was glad to come home to the familiar farm house and laze about the living room floor doing my homework while mom flipped through the television channels, so you can imagine my shock to come home and find Patch cooking what smelt suspiciously like some sort of pasta dish.

Patch seemed to have ignored my question because he had moved himself over to the fridge to survey the contents, "would you like some grape juice or some cordial?" he asked while opening a cupboard door to retrieve two glasses.

"Grape juice," I answered automatically. "Wait no; I would actually like to know what you are doing in my kitchen?"

"I am cooking mushroom fettuccine Nora," Patch answered, looking at me like I had just asked the most dumbest question in the world while handing me my drink.

"No really, why are you in my kitchen? Scratch that, why are you in my house?"  
Patch sighed and ran his hand through his hair, while giving me a sideways smirk, I briefly contemplated bashing it off his face with one of the saucepans.  
"The saucepan would go through more damage than my face you do realise?" Patch asked with amusement colouring his tone.  
Crap, did I say that out loud?

"Have a nice meal Patch," I said coolly, "when I come back downstairs in ten minutes time I expect you gone or I will call the cops," I turned around to go but only managed to get a couple of steps before he snagged my wrist and whirled me around to face him, I was startled to see a determined streak shine out in his dark eyes, his lips were a tantalising few centimetres away and I was beginning to grow heady with the cool minty smell of his breath, which was slowly becoming closer.  
Wait what.  
I stumbled back a step, while blinking rapidly to try and clear my mind, I shouldn't be doing this with Patch, he already broke my heart once by going off with Marcie and I will be dammed if I let him do this to me again. Besides I had Hunter now I reminded myself, and he seemed like a much better option, I felt safe with him and I knew he wouldn't hurt me, in fact-

My train of thought was broken by the feel of Patch's lips on mine, his soft lips were moving gently against mine, he nipped my bottom lip affectionately while asking access which I denied, letting out a frustrated groan he pressed himself harder against me, he bit my lip once more before snaking his tongue out and swiping my bottom lip, I couldn't stop the soft moan escaping my lips and that did it.

Patch seized the opportunity to gain access to my mouth, wiping all thoughts of resistance from my mind, he had me backed against a wall while smoothly gliding his hand inside my sweater, and his hand caressed my bare hip before moving up towards my bra line.  
I shivered from how silky his fingertips felt underneath my sweater, I couldn't stop the moan that escaped my lips as he cupped one breast in his hand while caressing it through the material, a voice was dimly screaming at me to stop but it seemed to fade away when Patch lowered his mouth to the spot where my neck met my shoulder and began planting butterfly kisses that were steadily going down.

The shrill ring of the oven broke us apart, we were both breathless from our make out session, looking at each other we wordlessly agreed that we needed to talk, he groaned as the ringing of the oven continued before reluctantly breaking contact away from me, but still reaching back to take my hand, he dropped my hand as soon we came to the table, he reached out for a chair while pulling it back for me, and then promptly striding off to the oven when I was seated.

I felt so guilty, what we just did was wrong on so many levels but I couldn't seem to help myself, I groaned inwardly and chastised myself for letting my guard down, I had already promised myself way to many times that Patch and I were over, so why was I letting myself fall back into the same trap?

The sound of a plate being put down in front of me broke me out of my thoughts, and admittedly the food really did smell delicious, Patch sat himself down in front of me with his own serving, I raised my fork towards my mouth while letting the creamy sensation burst in my mouth.  
"I give my compliments to the chef." I said appreciatively ass I took a sip out of my juice.  
"It deserves more than a compliment," Patch said while sending a wink one way.  
"Now what are you doing here?" I asked, "Really?"  
"Well since your mother has been called away for an urgent business trip, I decided it wouldn't harm keeping our company, especially since you disappeared at the end of school today," he finished disapprovingly.

I could feel my phone vibrating in pocket, asking Patch for a moment of privacy I stepped into a different room, checking the caller ID I wasn't too surprise to see my moms number flash up on the screen.  
"Mom?"  
"Nora? Oh sweetie I am so sorry! I just got called in for an urgent business meeting, I was half way through packing up to go home and then my boss came charging in the office demanding-"  
"Mom its fine!," I cut her off, she reminded me of a kid who just got caught with their hand in the cookie jar, "I just wished you gave me a call earlier so I wasn't caught of guard,"  
"Oh darling, everything was in chaos and I didn't know what to grab first, by the time everything settled down I was already on my plane flight to Phoenix."  
"Wait your in Phoenix?" I was surprised by this; mom never usually had to go this far for her business meetings.  
"I was so surprised! But I honestly think I finally got my big break, I might even get promoted!"  
"Congratulations mom," I was genially pleased, voices in the background told me that she was on the run so we parted shortly after that, sighing I let myself have a few seconds before confronting Patch back in the kitchen.

"Would you by any chance have anything to do with my mom going over to Phoenix?" I asked raising a brow at him.  
"Why what would make you say that?  
"Maybe the fact that my mom only just got off her plane flight and this is the first I have heard of it?"  
"Well I can't say it's my fault directly but after pulling a few strings," Patch trailed off, but I wasn't about to let him off easy.  
"What do you mean by directly?" I asked stiffly.  
"Technically I did you a favour."  
"I doubt that," I muttered.

We went on like that for ages, the pasta was very good and Patch ate even though he didn't really need to, admittedly after my long day I really wanted to be alone but Patch never did anything without a reason so I decided I would let him humour me.  
I excused myself to go to the bathroom quietly while he headed to the sink for the washing, shutting the door I let myself have a moment to recollect my thoughts, I felt numb from shock at the discovery that I had a sister, shock would be an understatement, under normal circumstances I would get very mad but the desperate look on Hunters face kept on replaying itself from my dream, what could be so bad that even got Hunter worried? He didn't strike me as the type to panic and he didn't have to worry about being sent to hell or anything like that since he still had his wings, so what was the issue?  
Apparently searching my reflection wasn't giving me answers, I reached for the door knob to go back downstairs before Patch could get worried when my wrist throbbed painfully.

Glancing down I saw my birthmark shine out, only this time I didn't feel as worried, sure it was highly abnormal for a seventeen year old teen to light up like a human glow stick but at least I had answers now, although I wasn't too sure that I liked them, it wasn't too much of a pleaser to know that you're one of the last remaining beings to a dying race.

"Nora?" I jumped at the knock on the other side of the door.  
"Yeah?" I called out while turning on the tap while trying to even out my breathing, glancing down I quietly groaned at the fact that my breathing patterns did not help my wrist.  
"You have been in there for a while now, can I come in?" Patch asked sounding concerned, but the thought of him coming in had me even more panicked.  
"No don't do that, I am-"I fumbled with my words to try and form an excuse, "I am just having trouble with my time of month if you get my drift."  
"I don't believe that Angel, open the door."  
"Five more minutes," I called out desperately while trying to get the glow under control; it had gotten worse during the last two minutes.  
"I don't think so Angel." I caught sight of the handle twisting when I bolted towards the door, twisting the lock I backed to the corner of the room knowing that a door couldn't keep him out forever.  
"Unlock the door," Patch's voice sounded calm but I knew him well enough to detect the irritation behind it.  
"Go away Patch."  
"You have ten seconds before I force the door open," he warned ignoring my plea, "ten," he started.  
I desperately looked around for anything to stop him, but besides my bathroom slippers and a toothbrush I came up with a blank.  
"Nine," I forced myself to take action; opening the drawer I caught sight of a bandage which I quickly wrapped around my wrist multiple times only to dim the light.  
"Five," he called out slowly.  
"You missed out three numbers," I accused, not getting how he could be half way already.  
"Four," he chuckled.

Frantically looking for an exit I caught sight of the window, quietly easing it open I swung one leg over, fortunately for me there was a tree. Unfortunately it wasn't under the bathroom window and would require a flying leap.  
"Two."  
Deciding I had no choice I launched myself at the nearest branch, nearly missing it I grazed my hands on the rough bark while I dangled of the ground. I barely had enough time to heave myself up when I heard the door open. I cursed my lack of detail when I saw that I had left the window open, it wouldn't take a genius to figure out where I had gone due to the limited amount of options being the ground or the tree, I scrambled to get to the other side before he looked out. My heart was beating frantically while I pressed myself to the tree while I waited for what seemed years, finally I breathed a sigh of relief when the bathroom light flicked off, I didn't know where Patch was but hopefully he was still in the house waiting for me to come back, but I would sleep outside before approaching him with my wrist in its abnormal state, even though I knew Patch and could trust him with my life I had this crushing sensation in my chest about what would happen if he found out, if I was as powerful as Hunter had predicted then I wouldn't be treated the same any more and whether or not that would be in a good or bad way I didn't want to find out because of the reason to the change which would be my possession of power.

I carefully slid down the tree trunk while planning my course of movement; I didn't get very far with that before I was tackled roughly to the ground.  
"You didn't really think that I would let you get away did you?" Patch's velvety voice tickled my ear.  
"Go away Patch."  
"Not until you explain what that was about," he cocked his head towards the bathroom door.  
"I can't answer that," my voice sounded sad even to me.  
"Angel," Patch murmured warningly while hovering over me, "I can help."  
"Not with this."  
"Have I failed you before?"  
"I already have help Patch," I stated calmly, "I don't need you for this."  
My words seemed to amuse him because he only let out an amused chuckle, "and that's where you are wrong; because you will always need me."  
"I have Hunter." I was about to add onto that when I saw the cold fury in Patch's eye which meant I had said the wrong thing.  
Suddenly my back was off the ground and I was over his shoulder like a sack of potatoes, angered I aimed a well powered kick with my knee towards his stomach which didn't do anything apart from hurt my knee, "put me down," I seethed.  
"No." he answered coldly while tightening his grip on me, I began to think that he had come back to his senses when I heard the car door opening before I got tossed inside, Patch quickly got in afterwards.  
"What are you doing?" I demanded.  
"Taking you to my house," Patch said as casually as if he was discussing the weather.  
"What? No! Have you lost your mind?"  
I clearly didn't deserve an answer because he was starting up his car, I was considering hurling myself out the door of a moving vehicle but the locks were down on the doors.

After a few moments of silence and driving in darkness I decided I would change tactics since the angry act clearly did not work, "this is unnecessary."  
"I disagree."  
"Why are you doing this?"  
"Because I can."  
"Kidnapping is a crime."  
"It's a sleepover," Patch corrected.

Sighing I decided to lean back into my seat, I had spent enough time with Patch to know that no one could talk sense into him when he was in a state like this, it wasn't for a while later until he lead me past the maze that led to his doorstep, the day had been pretty exhausting so I was dead on my feet and I was very keen to acquaint myself with the bed with the silky sheets.

Patch sighed when saw my dream like state, "sleep for now, we will discuss everything tomorrow."  
When I didn't answer he gently gripped my shoulders, "promise me Nora, this has gone on way to long. I deserve answers too."  
"Mhmm."  
Unsatisfied he continued persisting. "I want a yes Angel."  
"Yeah whatever," I mumbled not really paying attention to his words because I was already making my way towards the bed, nothing else really mattered.  
"Close enough," I heard him grumble from behind me, I was about to get in when a hand snaked around my waist, turning around Patch was holding a pair of expensive looking boxers and a white shirt, raising my eyebrow at him in confusion I dumbly stared at the clothes in his hand.  
"You won't be comfortable sleeping in jeans," he replied before walking out of the room to give me some privacy.  
I was briefly amused by the fact that he even knew about how it felt to wake up in jeans before shrugging it off, I was too tired to care and the bed looked even more tempting, I quickly stripped everything short of my bra and panties before tugging on the boxers and shirt, admittedly I did feel better in the looser clothing, I paused to fold my clothes and to put them on a chair near the be when I heard a knock on the door.  
"Come in." I called out as I clambered in bed hastily, not wanting to tempt Patch too much by the sight of my bare legs in his clothing in case he decided he wanted to take them back for questionable reasons.  
Patch came inside carrying some antibacterial wipes and some band aids, "you scraped your hands on that tree," he commented after taking in my baffled glances, I mentally gave myself a slap, I was acting really slow tonight.  
"Oh," was my stunning response as I watched Patch gently wipe my grazes before plastering them with band aids and then gently pressing them in by running his thumb over the plastic, when he was about to go I found myself grabbing onto his shirt even though I knew it was wrong because Hunter and I were practically dating but I still felt uncomfortable about being in an unfamiliar room alone.  
"Stay," I gently pleaded, but apparently I didn't need to press hard with my offer because Patch quickly jumped in under the covers while wrapping his arms around me firmly, I couldn't stop the sigh of contentment as my nose was filled with his clean smell of mint before I let myself fall into darkness.

**Late update! No need to scold me for it, but because i feel really bad stay tuned for the remainder of the week for another chapter ;)**  
**remember to keep those reviews!**


	16. Long Lost

A tightening pressure around my waist caused me to peel one eye open, I was slightly startled to see a bare chest in front of me before I quickly identified it to be Patch.  
"Stop staring," I muttered under my breath as I buried my face into his warm skin, I could feel his gaze on me and even in my sleepy state it was making me feel slightly self-conscious.  
"Opportunity is too good to Miss Angel," Patch murmured softly in my ear, I could hear the smirk in his voice.  
"What time is it?"  
"A little past ten."  
"What? Why didn't you wake me up?" I shot out of bed with a jump, glancing down at myself I mentally groaned, I slept in my clothes leaving my cotton shirt wrinkled.  
"Why? Do we have plans?" Patch asked amused as he lounged lazily back on the bed while watching me scramble around the room in a desperate attempt to collect my belongings.  
"_We_ don't have plans," I stated firmly, "I however have somewhere to be in about less than two hours."  
"Oh? Do tell?"  
"Sure thing _mom_," I said sarcastically, patting my pockets I was satisfied to feel my phone firmly tucked in, now all I needed was to get out of here.  
"Humor me Grey," Patch rolled out of bed and stalked towards me, my mouth went dry at the sight of him shirtless with his trademark black jeans hanging low on his hips.  
"You do realize that I do have a life outside of you," I informed him as I frantically focused on his face, knowing that I would never get out if I lowered my eyes down.

I didn't look back but I could feel Patch following me into the kitchen, opening the fridge I was pleasantly surprised to see it stocked with food, I knew that Angels didn't need to eat and it made me smile to know that Patch was doing so for my benefit.  
After a brief survey I selected a small carton of apple juice as I didn't think that my stomach could hold breakfast.  
"Your nervous," Patch stated as he circled me, his eye's held a calculating glint as he observe my every move like a predator stalking its prey.  
"Am I now?" I raised an eyebrow at him.  
"You tell me," Patch came closer, "your avoiding eye contact and," he paused tilting his head sideways," your heart is racing, let's not start bringing in your defensive posture."  
"What do you want?" I swung around irritated, if he wanted eye contact he would get it, but I was through with being intimidated.  
"Spend the day with me."  
"No."  
"Why not?"  
"It's Saturday." I said as I headed for the exit only to discover that Patch was blocking it, "like I said, I have plans so please move."  
"No."  
"I don't have all day," I warned.  
"I do."  
"Patch."  
"Nora."

Knowing that I wasn't going to get anywhere with him by talking I decided to change tactics, leaning in I brushed my lips against his, "move please," I murmured softly while wrapping my arms around his neck.  
"No," Patch moved in until he was crushing me against the door-frame, yet it wasn't uncomfortable, his hands skimmed down the sides of my waist until they gripped my sides firmly, he hoisted me up so my legs were wrapped around his waist.  
My hands had left his neck and were now getting tangled in the silky strands of his hair, I couldn't help but moan as his tongue eased into my mouth, my mind was beginning to get clouded and I was losing grasp of my plan.  
"Move," I asked once again before biting on his lip gently, this time he complied; only problem was that he was taking me with him.  
I felt the softness of the bed beneath me as he gently laid me onto it, his mouth had left mine and began gently sucking on my neck, pausing only to make an occasional nip. I pushed against his chest until I rolled him over onto his back, grinning I leaned down unto him and gently kissed the spot where his neck met his shoulder before planting a red mark. I would pay good money to see him try and explain that to Marcie.  
Taking his wrists in my hand I raised them above his head while catching his bottom lip between my teeth, pausing I moved North until I was close enough to his ear.  
"Sorry," I murmured regretfully, I sat up while still straddling him, my hand moved from his wrists and now were on either side of his temple.  
"Angel?" Patch was now looking at me with confusion.  
"I really don't want to do this." I said apologetically as I focused on the energy that was between my two hands, my wrist broke out in a glow as I drew the energy out of Patch, I saw realization and anger flash through his eyes before he fell into darkness, leaning forward again I kissed his forehead softly before climbing off him.

I felt guilt after absorbing Patch's energy, the feeling of power only added onto it. I knew I could do this because of the sense of deja-vu that washed over me during the draining process, but I doubted I had ever performed it on a fallen angel as you could hardly call the energy I just took _natural_, but I doubted he would stay down for long at least.  
I winced mentally because I knew Patch would be out to get me when he came around, but meeting my sister was hardly an opportunity I could afford to miss.  
I quickly rummaged around the drawers until I found a wad of bills that were hastily tied by a band, knowing I was already in the deep end I decided that Patch wouldn't take a few missing twenties too personally after what I just did.

Dialing Hunters number into my cell, I waited until he picked up, on the third ring I heard a voice through the receiver.  
"Hello?"  
"Hey Hunt, it's me."  
"Nora?" I could hear the surprise in Hunter's voice  
"One and only, you won't happen to know your own address by the way?  
"Nah its fine, I'll pick you up from the farmhouse in ten."  
"Um, I'm afraid that's not possible at the moment..." I paused awkwardly trying to steer the conversation clear of my where abouts because I doubted Patch would appreciate Hunter knowing where he lived, "It'll be more comfortable for me catch a cab in."  
"Okay sure, do you have a pen?"  
I grabbed a marker and scribbled down his address down on my arm before hanging up and calling a cab to Delphic.

Approximately twenty minutes later my cab rolled up in front of a pleasant looking house, I took a deep breath while contemplating weather or not I really wanted to do this. Admittedly a part of me was begging for me to force my frozen feet to walk up the carefully manicured path and to arrive at the doorstep, yet another part was screaming for me to hightail out of there because I wasn't sure I was ready to face what I was about to find.  
I stole another glance before taking my first strides towards the house, I have already come this far I chided myself, and I was fairly certain after my performance with Patch I was fairly certain he would be out to get me.  
Grimacing I raised my hand and left three dull knocks on the door, my short-lived prayers of being unheard were unanswered as I was hearing footsteps that were far to light to be Hunter's approach.

"Hello, Hunter will be just a se-…"  
My jaw dropped as I stared at the person in front of me, we looked so alike yet her features were far more refined and fragile, her grey eyes were larger than mine yet they possessed a heaviness in them that I have yet not come to know.  
It was obvious she was just as startled as I was, her mouth formed a perfect circle as she appraised me, deciding that the stare off has gone for long enough I decided it was high time to break the ice.  
"I'm Nora," I smiled as I offered my hand to my other half.  
"Summer." Her expression was dazed as she accepted the handshake, "come right in, Hunter mentioned you might be coming."  
"Is he around by any chance?"  
"Yeah he is on his way back, I sent him down to the grocery as he has been forgetting to buy proper food for a week," she grimaced, "he doesn't need to eat but I have been living off microwave pasta for too long now."  
"So you know about Angels?" I asked, I knew I shouldn't be surprised that she knew, but that didn't please me nevertheless, if I had the chance then I would have kept her as far away from this world as possible, it didn't seem to be mixing well with Summer.  
The sound of her soft laughter snapped me out of my inner thoughts as she ushered me inside the cosy household, I inhaled the pleasant smell of what seemed to be a mix of vanilla and lavender that was wafting around the house.

I felt light pangs of pain as I followed her through the corridor that was filled with framed photographs, none of which I was in. I missed my little sister growing up, and seeing those photos reminded me of the exact extent, I sighed as I realized there was no point dwelling on it now since the past has already been.

Sitting down on a stool beside the pristine granite bench I watched as she hummed to herself while checking on the oven, she offered me a glass of water and we spent the next half hour chatting and discovering the things we missed over the years, I was amazed at how similar yet completely different we were, we shared similar tastes in music and food yet our personality traits and moral beliefs couldn't be more different, she was so much more innocent than me, in contrast I found I had gotten quite cold compared to her warm personality.

"So who is he?" Summer asked softly as her soft eyes observed my reaction.  
"Who's who?" I asked bluntly as I raised a confused eyebrow at her.  
"You are too pretty to be single and yet I doubt it's Hunter who has caught your attention since you barley asked three things about him."  
I couldn't help the chuckle that escaped my lips, "well that's because I guess I prefer to find things out by myself."  
"He likes you a lot you know," she paused thoughtfully, "but even if you like him, then there must be someone else too."  
"And where are you getting this from little sis?" I joked, but her observations held me truly interested.  
"You aren't the only one with an ability," she winked while tapping her temple, "I can't do anything as awesome as you, but I still have my quirks and they come in handy every now and then."  
"Abilities?"  
"Yes. Now who is?" She persisted, refusing to be swayed.

I hesitated before giving in and telling her everything, about Patch, about fallen angels, and how I was keeping him in the dark about absolutely everything.  
"Well no wonder he doesn't like you hanging with Hunter, although you are an idiot for shutting him out," Summer said once I finished.  
"He has Marcie," I shrugged, "besides from what I gather this is not angel business."

Our conversation got cut short by the sound of a door unlocking and the sounds of footsteps echoing in the hall.  
As soon as Hunter came into view I noticed her was weighed down by a mass of grocery bags, which Summer rushed to help him.  
"So I see you two have met?" he grinned as he watched me get p to help unpack.  
"How could you keep her to yourself this long?" Summer accused while sending a sharp elbow towards his rib-cage.  
"Well you know how it is," Hunter trailed off, "I don't like to share."

The rest of the evening we spent lazing about the house eating muffins and watching re-runs of Big Bang theory and throwing bits of popcorn in each other's mouths.  
When it was ten past eleven I grimaced knowing I had to return to the farm house, packing up my belongings I stood up.

"Going already?" Summer asked with a sad expression on her face.  
"Yeah, I have to return to the farm house and take care of a few things," my voice faded off as I thought of Patch.  
"You could stay the night," Hunter offered hopefully.  
"Nah I have to get home," I could hear the regret in my voice and to be honest I really did want to stay.  
"Your mum?" Hunter asked with a frown, I didn't miss Summers head snap up in my direction.  
"No, she is out for the weekend, I have to take care of things back home though."  
"Ill drive you home," Hunter leapt for the opportunity, I was about to deny but he was already gone to get the car keys and I was left alone in the room with Summer.

"Take care of her will you?" she asked, I could hear the longing in her voice.  
I didn't have to ask to know she was talking about mom, I felt bad because I grew up knowing the softness of a mothers touch and she was deprived of it, while being the younger one in the family.  
"I can fix things you know," I told her gently, "you can come back to live with me and-"  
"Not now," she cut me off, her tone much harsher, "maybe when it's safe again but if I go now..you will be in more danger."  
"Danger?"  
At that moment I heard the beeping of the horn, "next time then," I looked her in the eye to let her know that I would be back to her an explanation.

As I walked out the door I couldn't help but wonder if my questions would ever end, it seemed the more I found the more I needed to know, starting to feel light headed I sat myself in the soft leather seats of Hunters car.

"Are you alright?"  
"Yeah fine, its just so much to take in I guess," I was touched by how caring Hunter was, he really was the sweetest guy I had yet to meet.  
"Nora?"  
"Yeah Hunt?"  
"Was it too soon?" I smiled at the vulnerability in his voice.  
"No." I smiled at him, "it was perfect."

At the moment we arrived at the farm house, I was just about to get out of the car when I felt Hunter yank on my arm, shoving back inside the car before hastily stomping his foot on the gas.  
"What the hell Hunter!" I yelled as I whirled around to see the farmhouse which was getting smaller with every passing second.  
"He was waiting for you," Hunter hissed as he violently swerved the car around a bend.  
"Are you insane? Who was waiting? What is going on?" Questions flew out of my mouth as I tried to get my bearings.

Then he said the one word that for some reason made my blood run cold.

"Kaede."


	17. On the Run

"Hunter I am not going to ask again! Explain or stop the damn car before I blast you ass through the windshield!" I hissed after the last fifteen minutes of groaning, pleading, whining, and screaming proved to be fertile.

"Nora this can wait until we arrive, in the meantime I need you to call Summer, tell her to clear the house, grab the bags and to go straight to the emergency location," Hunter only paused to fish his cell put of his pocket while steering the wheel before throwing it in my direction.

After trying a few times I decided to stick with a text, looking out the window I no longer recognised my surroundings as the scenery dissolved into flashes of never ending greenery as Hunter continued driving, judging by the speed we were going I had a feeling we left the speed limit behind the last town we passed.

"You are being hunted," Hunter spoke softly, surprising me because I did not expect to have any conversation with him until we arrived to his final destination.

"By who? What is going on?" I tried to keep composed, but even I could hear the panicked edge to my voice.

"Remember how I told you the story of how your ancestors locked the ability within themselves to prevent the future generations from being hunted? The power you have been releasing over the past few weeks has been attracting unwanted guests," Hunter threw me a worried glance, "I am going to take you to sealed location, meaning no matter how much power you use, it can't be tracked.

"What? You cant do that! I have school to go to, and –"

"It's only temporary," Hunter cut me off as his hands tightened around the wheel, "its just until you get full access to your powers, once that happens no barriers can really mask what you are capable of to those who are trying to find you.

"What do you mean by gaining full access, if I am getting tracked surely it would be best to stay under the radar?," I was really confused by this stage, if memory served me right then many of my kind had died while they were getting persecuted.

"There are two ways that I know of that can unleash your full potential, one is to build up you power capacity until it shatters the part of you that is blocking it from coming through, but to answer your other question then in this case staying under the radar is not one of the better options, although you still have the choice of hiding I guess," Hunter smiled as he turned his gaze on me before continuing, "you have one of the best chances of surviving this, because lets not forget; you have angel blood running through your veins."

"So my chances are looking?" I trailed off as I hoped he got the hint to fill in the blanks

"You're chances are better than any human being I can think of Nora, your DNA has less than half of the human gene, think about it, a large part of it is angel blood, not to mention the gene of an Aurous being thrown into the mix."

"Right, as if I needed to be reminded that I am a freak," I muttered quietly, but apparently not quiet enough because the next thing I knew my head collided with the window of the car as Hunter violently swerved the car to the side of the road before coming to a screeching stop.

"For the second time today Hunter, what the hell? Did you even pass you're drivers test?" I yelled as he jumped out of the car and slamming the door shut, by the time I semi recovered from being smothered into the door Hunter was already throwing it open.

"Get out." Hunter said as he glared down at me.

"Screw off," I returned, my mood was already at it's lowest and I was not going to continue taking crap from him while my own emotions were about to go spiralling out of control.  
Apparently not about to take crap from me either Hunter grabbed my wrist before hauling me off into the forest, the girl I was before this whole mess would have started panicking at the prospect of being hauled off into the forest by some guy she meet a few weeks ago, but the girl I was now was kind of hoping that causing harm was his intention so I could start causing some back.  
Man, I really needed to let go from some of the tension, or at least get a therapist with some prescripted drugs to assist anger management along with it.

As Hunter continued storming off deeper into the forest while towing me behind him I was begging to wonder if my lack of panic was due to the fact that in my current state I could probably blast him into the next continent without batting an eyelash and be back in time for dinner.

I was too preoccupied with my own thoughts to notice that Hunter had came to a halt until I rammed right into him, expecting another round of trying for each others throats I was surprised to look up and find him looking at me with a soft gaze, my mind was already a jumbled mess so the only coherent thought that came to mind was the possibility of him being bipolar.

"You are not a freak," he whispered so quietly I almost missed it.

"Say what?" I flinched at how dumb I just sounded.

"Nora, you were born with so many gifts, you have no idea how fortunate you are," Hunter stepped closer until our bodies were almost touching, I was about to step back when his arms shot forwards and forcing me to a standstill.

"Hunter-" I was cut off with his finger at my lips, his hands drifted down to my waist, once he had a grip he gently spun me around so that my back was pressed to him.

"Close your eyes," I couldn't suppress the shiver that ran up my spine from his breath near my ear, even though I had no idea where this was going I decided to humour him.

"Are they closed?" he murmured against my shoulder this time.

"Yes," I blushed at my raspy tone.

"Look without seeing Nora."

"I cant-"

"What are you standing on?" he cut me off, I could feel him smiling against my skin for my expense.

"Dirt."

"Connect to that then," he paused as he nipped my skin causing a hot rush to wash over my skin, "then tie yourself to all that is connected to it."

Sighing a sigh of frustration I tried to follow his instructions, as weird as it was I had a vague idea of what he wanted me to do, having some experience in bringing a tree down on Patch earlier.  
Shaking my head free of all thought I did as Hunter instructed, occasionally growing distracted when he would nip at a certain sensitive area of my skin, but sure enough I was soon expanding my inner senses to the ground, soon it felt like I became one with it, I could locate every tree, every light footstep of the forest animals and every rustle.

"Can you see?" Hunter whispered against my skin.  
Being at a state where I was a loss of words I simply let out a small nod.

Suddenly I felt Hunter release his hold from me and as wrong as I knew it was I felt lost without the contact, even though my eyes were still closed I still knew he was slowly stepping backwards, his steps making a small vibration throughout the connection between me and the earth.

I heard the sound of a gentle rustle which confused me, I turned to Hunter when he called out, "don't open your eyes yet! I want you to point to my location in about ten seconds."  
I smirked as I realised what he was doing, giving him a nod to proceed I started tracking his movements, pointing them out every ten seconds, sometimes even making my finger follow his path just to rub it in.

"Very good," Hunter murmured approvingly, now challenge of the day is," he paused for effect, I could just imagine the smirk that would be playing on his lips, "find me now."  
Grinning I was about to point him out when I lost sense of him completely, frowning I connected myself deeper with the ground until my senses started creeping their way up trees, weaving their way through grass, only to no avail.  
It was like he flew off the ground into thin air!  
Wait a second..

Snapping my eyes open I tilted my neck up and sure enough I caught sight of Hunter, and even though I was expecting it the magnificence of the sight took my breath away.  
He was hovering a couple of meters off the ground, taking care that his powerful white wings weren't brushing against anything. Even though I had a lot of experience with angels I had never seen the wings of one, Hunters wings were huge, at least three times longer than his arms, the tips of them having wisps of grey trailing through them, seeing my dazed expression Hunter allowed himself a cocky grin before he floated back down to the ground.  
"Pretty cool huh," he smirked as he flexed them, causing a gust to run through my hair.  
"Yeah, you could say that, " I mumbled, not wanting to blow his ego any further out of proportion.

We watched each other silently until he was the first to move, walking towards me with an exaggerated slowness he slowly reached out for my hand, as if giving me a chance to run away. Once he had a light grip he extended my hand towards him, jerking it lightly to make me stumble forwards slightly.  
"Jerk," I muttered as I fell into his chest, he chuckled slightly, I felt a shadow fall over my face as I looked up to see his wings unfurling from behind his back, forming a cocoon around us, completely sealing us into a world of soft white feathers, giving Hunter a tentave glace I slowly reached my fingers out and ran them through, marvelling at how silky they felt between my fingers, his hold tightening around my waist as I did so.

"I thought wings were made of spiritual matter," I mumbled confused, because I was fairly certain that what I was seeing was far from merely spiritual.

"Angels that have fallen get their wings torn out," Hunter winced at the thought, "if they earn them back then they can be taken just as easily, in summary the wings that are given are a shadow of the ones that you once had."

"Why do your wings have wisps of grey through them?" I asked, leaning further back into his chest while toying with one of the larger feathers that was just within my reach.

"Because I have spent too long on earth, if I wasn't here for an approved reason they would have turned black and deteriorated long ago."

"Or ripped out," I said quietly.

Hunter stilled behind me, I turned around to face him, I couldn't quite name the emotion on his face.  
"You seem to know an awful lot about my kind," Hunter retracted his wings as he spoke, breaking the spell that we had been in a few moments ago.

"Yeah well hanging around with Patch does tend to have that result," I couldn't help but feel a twinge of guilt as I spoke, remembering our last encounter.  
Patch! After all that had happened I had forgotten all about him, I knew it he had awoken from the draining I had put him through, and I had no doubt he would be looking for me, I could only hope that in his search he didn't cross paths with whatever I has currently running from.

"Patch is very bad news," Hunter informed me as if knowing where my mind was, "all fallen angels are, but him especially. I have been watching him after he fell, and I can tell you that he is capable of things so dark and twisted that you would not be able to think of if you tried. That guy is messed up."

"I think we should start heading back," I mumbled as I turned around towards the car, having no desire to talk about Patch to Hunter. I knew that Patch was not one to play nice, but I refused to let anyone taint my opinion of him despite the things that happened between us I also knew would never hurt me, and I also knew he was different from what he once was, the past doesn't change, nor does it erase his wrongdoings, but to whoever Patch had to answer to for that it sure as hell wasn't me.

The walk to the car was brisk, after being cocooned in the warmth of Hunters wings I had failed to notice the coolness of the air, so I was relieved at the sight of the car that was parked at the side of the road where we last left it.  
I didn't need to wait for Hunter because I knew it was still unlocked, getting in I was suddenly struck with a question I couldn't believe I hadn't cleared up first thing.  
Once Hunter was in I decided to clear it up once and for all.  
"Who am I running from?"

"Nora, you have already absorbed so much information."

"Cut the that's-enough-for-today crap Hunter," I glared at him, "if my life is in danger as you say then I need to know and I need to know now."

Hunter sighed as the car purred to life once again, after a few minutes of driving I thought he would continue the silence until he spoke, "he is known by many names, but over the years he has settled for Kaede, he is an Aurous like you, but he no longer is merely just that."

"What do you mean?"

"Despite the divine powers that are possessed by an Aurous they are still mortal," Hunter looked at me to see I was still following, "but that was not enough for Kaede, he discovered immortality through draining the life and powers of so many people, his first victims were his parents, then his wife and so forth. At first his kills had to be made in small numbers, this would be done by targeting an individual and drawing them out, eventually he could take small groups, then larger ones, until the life force of his kills allowed him to take on whole towns at once."

"But if he is immortal already, why does he need me?"

"Story isn't finished yet," Hunter said grimly as he turned a corner, "he was well and truly immortal by the time he wanted to take Liffy, which was the a secluded city where some of the most powerful Aurous's lived. Word had reached the elders of his deeds, all those who were specialized in defence gathered in attempt to protect their city, methods of every kind were put out to deter him, the best fighters were summoned to stop him. But Kaede was no longer doing this for immortality, he was doing it for power, addicted to what every life that he took made him. Despite the efforts of those within the city walls he could not be stopped, he had reached the level of immortality after all, it was one of the most biggest massacres to be committed by an individual through the line of history, over twenty thousand lives perished."

"So he just happened to track down every other Auros down by himself?"

"Humans helped, since no Auros was safe next to him he turned to man kind for help, offering his talents you could say with the control of nature in return, after that you basically know the story, it was known he was drawn to power so it was locked away so deep within an Aurous that they couldn't reach it anymore, children that were born showing signs of it were immediately sent to have it concealed, as time progressed numbers decreased until eventually no signs of any other power welding human were left."

"Until me," I whispered, the reality of the situation beginning to set in.

"Until you."

"If all numbers were _extinct_ then how did he find me?"

"He is drawn to the feel of power like a shark is to blood, the strength that comes from you must have attracted him from miles away." Hunter frowned as he spoke.

"So what you are telling me is that some crazed psycho that is addicted to killing, who just happens to have the life force of over twenty thousand people is hunting me down as we speak to try and drain me for all I'm worth, did I also forget to mention that he is immortal?" I could feel the hysteria rising with every word I spoke, after all that I heard about this guy I had to admit my chances of surviving the next year were very very slim.

In my panic I did not notice that we had finally pulled up to our destination until i heard Hunter open his door, following his lead I also got out of the car, we had arrived to a cosy looking stone cottage with ivy creeping up the walls and flowers blooming along the sides of the pebbled walkway, it looked like something straight out of a magazine and if I hadn't been so distressed I think I would have actually had a chance to admire it.

"Not bad for a hide out if I do say so myself," Hunter linked his hand with mine as he led me through the wooden front door, "make yourself at home and try and get lots of rest, you will need it for the training you are going to tomorrow."

"Training?"

"Exactly right babe," Hunter winked as he led me into a pale yellow colored bedroom, "because when we are done here, Kaede is not going to know what hit him."

Just great.

**And the plot thickens :) Originally I wasn't going to add Hunter into the twist, but hey if it makes it any more interesting..**  
**Earlier disappearance to those who bother reading this is due to a broken keyboard and then as time went on I forgot my whole place in the story to the extent that I was just not motivated to write, I want to start something completely new but I hate it when people drop their project so .. I am back now.**

**To those who are Patch supporters expect a POV from him pretty soon, sorry for how confusing this story is getting but all will be cleared up, in the meantime keep up the reviews! **


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